Growth of a SEED ver 2
by animefan29
Summary: A rebel ship pursued by Imperials stumbles a world of giant mecha and genetically enhanced humans known as Coordinators. How will this affect the war for the galaxy. Timeline: One year after 2nd Bloody Valentine, One year before A New Hope. Revision of my original.
1. Chapter 1

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is a rewrite of my original first chapter. Some sections of the chapter will be mostly the same, such as the opening battle between Yzak's mobile suits and the terrorists which has only a few changes. The real differences begin in the second section which introduces the Rebels. As to why I made these changes, I explain that more in-depth at the bottom of the page in the ending Author's Notes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Star Wars.

"Speaking"

"_Radio_"

'_Thoughts_'

Location

()()()()()()()()

Chapter 1

Planet: Earth

System: Sol

Sector: Not Applicable

Grid Coordinates: H-7

Region: Unknown Regions

Date: CE 75

At the far edge of an area designated as Lagrange point 5 by the denizens of a small blue planet that was the third closest to its primary, two ships drew closer to each other. One Nazca-class destroyer, the _Voltaire_, was bearing down on the civilian freighter _Blue Lagoon_. The _Blue Lagoon_ was in an area of space that was far outside the designated routes within the L5 area for civilian ships. However despite appearances the _Blue Lagoon_ was not an ordinary freighter, which is why the flagship of the Terminal task force known as the Joule Team was here investigating it.

Opening up its hangar doors the _Voltaire_ launched from its mobile suit catapult one Slash ZAKU Warrior, two GuAIZ R, one Gunner ZAKU Warrior, one black Blaze ZAKU Phantom, and one white GOUF Ignited. Over an open channel the Commander of the task force and pilot of the GOUF, Yzak Joule, issued a warning to the crew of the _Blue Lagoon_, stating that they were in a restricted area, that they were to cease all propulsion, and to be prepared to be boarded and all crew and cargo inspected. _Blue Lagoon's_ response was to blow its hangars open from which 10 Strike Dagger mobile suits flew from.

While surprising this action was not entirely unexpected. ZAFT intelligence had warned Terminal that the freighter was suspected to be a carrier ship for one of the numerous terrorist groups formed after the death of Djibril during the Earth's and the PLANTs' efforts to eradicate Logos.

The first of the mobile suits to attack was the Gunner ZAKU Warrior, its powerful Orthros cannon having the greatest range of the present mobile suits, scattering the Strike Daggers into three smaller groups with a single of blast.

Yzak boosted his GOUF forward towards a group of 3 Strike Daggers, unleashing a torrent of energy beams from his Draupnir upon the mobile suits, destroying one as the other two scattered. Targeting the mobile suit on the right Yzak drew his Tempest beam sword. The Strike Dagger blocked the first strike with its own beam saber, only to be kicked away and perforated with beam shots.

The pilot of the third Strike Dagger tried to shoot Yzak's GOUF in the back. Yzak dodged and flew at the mobile suit, lashing out with his Slayer Whip heat rod, wrapping it around the beam rifle. Yzak sent an electrical shock through the whip, destroying the rifle and stabbed the Strike Dagger's head with his beam sword. A few more well placed cuts and the mobile suit was out of commission without killing the pilot. It would be good to have at least one terrorist to interrogate.

A quick check of his sensors told Yzak that the rest of the team had finished with their opponents. "_Damage report people. Dearka?_"

"_No damage, just need to restock on the supply of missiles for my Blaze pack,_" reported Yzak's long standing teammate and friend.

"_Zeke?_"

"_Nothing a bit of paint won't fix Commander,_" responded Ezekiel, pilot of the Gunner ZAKU.

"_Morgan?_"

"_Hah, as if a bunch Naturals in outdated machines could touch me!_"

"_Don't get cocky Morgan; all it takes is one stray shot from even the oldest Moebius to shoot down even the most advanced mobile suit._" chided Yzak. "_Teresa, how are you?_"

"_Lost a railgun sir. The explosion messed with my suit's systems and the legs' movement calibration is off._"

"_Ask the mechanics to replace the railgun and work on the legs once we get back to the _Voltaire_. Just because we're no longer at war there's no excuse for not keeping your machine combat ready. How about you Liz, what's your status?_"

"_One hundred percent operational Commander._" reported Elizabeth in her usual stoic voice as she piloted the Slash ZAKU into formation.

"_Are there any survivors amongst your engaged mobile suits?_" The following report told Yzak that, including the suit he disabled, there were three surviving terrorists. Yzak then ordered for two of his pilots to grab the other two survivors' suits as he grabbed the one he disabled and return to the _Voltaire_.

()()()()()()()()

Planet: Ankus

System: Ankus System

Sector: Freestanding Subsectors

Oversector: Not Applicable, Just Galactic West of the Bright Jewel Oversector

Grid Coordinates: I-7

Region: Mid Rim

Date: 34:2 (Great ReSynchronization Calendar)

The ship jolted as a turbolaser shot struck against the shields. The _Tantive IV_ was not a war vessel, nor was it even designed to do any real fighting, and wouldn't be able to take much more of the abuse.

"We need to get out of here!" Shouted the resident VIP Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, currently the youngest member of the Imperial Senate and high ranking official in the Alliance to Restore the Republic, or as it's more commonly known the Rebel Alliance. Both of which are positions she had only recently obtained.

"The hyperdrive coordinates haven't been calculated yet. We need a bit more time." Responded Captain Antilles as he checked on the bridge crew's progress.

"Captain, there is undisputable evidence of our connection to the Alliance aboard this ship! We can't allow it or a single member of the crew to fall into the hands of the Empire! Just make a blind jump!" ordered the princess.

"Princess! Are you insane!" shouted the metallic and artificial voice of Antilles golden protocol droid C-3PO. "We're on the edge of Wild Space and our current course has us heading deeper into it, straight towards the Unknown Region! Do you know the odds of surviving such a blind jump!?"

"Better than the odds of surviving when those Imperials on our tail catch us!" the princess shouted back

Antilles grumbled as he weighed his options. It was supposed to be a relatively simple mission. Using her position in the senate as a cover the princess was to go to the world of Ankus on the edge of the Empire.

Actually, it was beyond the edge of Empire, in a region of the galaxy officially listed as a freestanding subsector, a term used to designate territories that were not a part of the galactic government. But that hadn't stopped the Imperial Army from invading the planet.

Now the indigenous Cragmoloid population was essentially enslaved, with many of their number forced to work for TaggCo, an Empire-supporting (and in turn supported by the Empire) mega-corporation that was strip-mining the planet of its bountiful and valuable ores. The Cragmoloid were also in danger of poachers who hunted the sentient pachydermoid species for their tusks.

The Cragmoloids was hardly the first species, or Ankus the first planet, to be exploited by the Empire in such a manner, but the Imperials' abuse of Ankus was made easier to hide by the fact that hardly anyone has heard of the planet or of the Cragmoloid people. Even in the thousand years since their discovery by the bygone Republic the Cragmoloids had yet to incorporate many galactic standard technologies into their culture, and no more than a handful have ever left their planet.

The planet Ankus's position aided in their anonymity as it was on the edge of known space. Just go a few dozen light-years in the direction of galactic east and you would be in territory considered to be part of the Unknown Regions.

Officially Princess Leia Organa had come to this remote world as part of a Senatorial oversight committee to ensure that TaggeCo was abiding by Imperial law and has a member of Alderaan's ruling family to impress upon local TaggCo officials the value in forming relationships with Alderaannian manufacturers.

The former of the two objectives was a complete sham. While the Empire did have laws to prevent exploitation of indigenous species they were practically useless with the number of special dispensations and exceptions that had been created by the Empire's bureaucracy.

TaggCo has high friends in the Empire who will claim that TaggCo's presence on the planet and use of the Cragmoloids was all part of a program to "better the lives of the primitive indigenous species and prepare them for full induction into the Empire". These same friends would prevent anything that shows either the corporation or government in a bad light from reaching the senate floor, even when the evidence is gathered by an Imperial Senator.

The second objective was real, but it was also a cover for a third objective that Leia was carrying out as a member of the Rebel Alliance.

The TaggCo official that Leia had met on the planet had become sympathetic to the Cragmoloids and was publically voicing his opinion that current attitudes and practices needed to be changed. TaggCo did not appreciate this and marginalized his power so that while he maintained his position he had zero influence outside his department. Outraged at the casual dismissal of his opinion and the continued abuse the official had started his own rebel group among like-minded humans and Cragmoloids. The ultimate objective of their group is to overthrow local Imperial rule, chase off TaggCo, and return control of Ankus to its rightful people with enough defenses to scare away any would-be poachers.

This group had caught the attention of the Rebel Alliance who sent agents to begin negotiations. The negotiations were going well but the Ankus rebels were still wavering about joining the Alliance. Since the agents had determined that the rebel cell was legit, Alliance High Command had determined it was time to send in a major figure in the Rebellion to show the scope of their power and influence. That was where the princess came in as she was an influential figure for both the Senate and the Rebel Alliance who could openly travel to Ankus with few questions asked.

However, it's now obvious that someone on Ankus wasn't as on board with the rebels' objective and knew of Leia's arrival.

As the _Tantive_ _IV_ was heading out into space to go back home, an Imperial patrol cruiser appeared. But not just any run-of-the-mill cruiser, it was a Victory-class Star Destroyer, and while Victory isn't as big or dangerous as an Imperial-class Star Destroyer it is still more than enough to rip a Corellian Corvette like the _Tantive IV_ apart in minutes.

And to make matters worse the ship appeared right in the path of their previous exit route back to the Core. With the Star Destroyer spewing turbolasers and grasping tractor beams ahead of them and the planet and its gravity well behind, their only option was to take a new course, a course that was oriented towards galactic east towards the Unknown Regions.

They didn't have enough time to calculate a new jump before the chasing Star Destroyer would be able to snag them with its tractor beams, but to fly blind in such an unexplored area of the galaxy had an incredibly high risk of running into unknown mass shadows that more often than not led to the damaging if not destruction of a space craft. Antilles was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

His internal debate was cut short by several beeps and whistles by his small blue and white astromech R2-D2.

"Sir, Artoo states that he has already calculated an emergency escape route. He only needs to upload it into the nav-computer." translated the golden Threepio.

The old captain couldn't quite hold back a small smile for the reliable little droid. Despite being only a simple astromech, in the 19 years he had owned the droid Antilles had come to notice that Artoo seemed to have an almost supernatural ability for having just the thing needed to get out of unexpected and problematic situations. But then again given the droid's past and its former owner he really couldn't expect anything less from it.

If that wasn't enough the severe shaking caused by the next turbolaser hit was enough to convince him.

"Do it." He ordered, the astromech rolling up to a console and jacking into the system. "Helm on my mark, jump to hyperspace." He waited until Artoo beeped in confirmation that the navdata was downloaded, "Mark!"

The stars elongated before coalescing into a wall of white. Antilles sighed as relief from the safety of hyperspace washed over him.

"Well your highness, it looks like we got away."

"Yes, but depending on who sold us out to the Empire we may have merely delayed the hunt. Where exactly are we going anyway?"

Antilles differed to his astromech who responded with the beeps and whistles of the droid language, a language no one on the ship could understand except for the other droids. And the one droid on the bridge that could speak Basic seemed to be in a very unbelieving mood towards his counterpart.

"Your coordinates are taking us where? Artoo you must be malfunctioning. I have downloaded the names of every planet and system in the ship's databanks, and am programmed with the names of thousands more and I have never heard of such a place." The response was a series of rather angry beeps and whistles. "Alright I'll tell them, but don't blame me if they decide to replace you." The protocol droid replied indignantly. "It seems that my counterpart has programmed a course for the planet Ilum in a system of the same name."

Captain Antilles frowned at the unknown name. "If Ilum isn't in the _Tantive's_ computers than how does Artoo know of it?"

Atroo's translated answer was, "Apparently one of Artoo's non-factory standard upgrades is a memory modification that permanently records the name and location of any planet he has ever plotted a course to on his long-term memory banks. I assume that since my counterpart has never had such an upgrade or plotted a course to Ilum while in your service Master Antilles that it was done while Artoo was in the service of a previous master."

Due to the need to keep aspects of Artoo's and Threepio's past a secret Antilles didn't voice that he knew probably which master had the modification done and why. Instead he turned his mind to answering the question of whether the Victory would follow. All Imperial warships have the technology to track a ship's velocity for precious moments after they enter hyperspace. With that data it was possible for a captain to decide to pursue, but it was often difficult as their prey could drop out of hyperspace and go in a different direction once out of that small sensor range. Currently the Victory captain's decision would be compounded by the fact that the _Tantive IV_ had by now entered the Unknown Regions, a dangerous area to attempt navigating.

That was also a problem for Antilles, one that he needed more information. "Artoo, how far away is Ilum? And is there a safe hyperspace route out of the system?"

"Artoo says it's not far, located at the edge of the G-7 grid coordinates about 6.5 thousand light-years away. And he says there is only one known route away from Ilum, but the closer one gets to the Core, the more routes that become available."

'_6,500 light-years_,' mused Antilles, '_The_ Tantive_ could make a trip of that length in less than 12 hours at full speed, but that is still 12 hours to risk in the Unknown Regions. On the other hand I doubt anyone aboard the Victory knows of Ilum, so we would be safe once we get there. And it would be safer to plot a course away from there then anywhere else in the Unknown Regions._' Finally his decision was made and he addressed the crew. "We'll maintain this course till we reach Ilum and from there use Artoo's data to navigate the known routes back home. May the Force be with us… because we're going to need it."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

**Three Hours Later**

The hyperdrive trip would be a short and hopefully an uneventful one. Artoo had plotted a direct course to Ilum since there were no known routes from Ankus to Ilum, so there was no need to stop in another system. Although considering that the trip would be through the uncharted stars of the Unknown Regions most of the crew felt that the lack of frequent stops was not a good thing.

Currently Antilles was sitting in the captain's chair on the bridge. Ilum was an unknown world to both the crew and himself with only one astromech droid on the entire ship having been there previously and it couldn't remember why. So the captain was taking the opportunity to prepare his crew and his ship, as much as possible in hyperspace, for the upcoming reversion to real space. However that window of opportunity to prepare was cut short only three hours into the trip.

Klaxons wailed in warning as the ship's sensors detected something wrong. Antilles never even got a chance ask to what was going on but he had a feeling, and that feeling was proven right as only a second after the alarms started the _Tantive IV_ reverted to real space.

The current overall situation was obvious to Antilles, as it would to anyone who had even the slightest understanding of hyperdrive travel. The klaxons had been for a rarely used early warning system that indicated when the ship came across an unexpected mass shadow in hyperspace. In most of the galaxy it would likely be a sizable asteroid, rogue planetoid, or one of the Empire's Interdictor cruisers. However here in the Unknown Regions stars, black holes, other anomalous gravity wells, and hyperspace anomalies were added to the list and were considered more likely for a ship to come across, but the fact that the ship was intact scratched that latter options off the list. '_Now to learn which of the remaining three forced us to drop out of hyperspace._' "Helm, status report."

The helmsman, a tall blue-green skinned Duros, reported that the _Tantive IV_ had detected the mass shadow of a terrestrial planet orbiting a medium-mass orange-yellow star. Having been unable to make a significant enough course correction to go around the planet the hyperdrive was forcefully disengaged to avoid a collision. "Also, according to the sensors the planet shows significant life-sign readings and that there is a substantial number of energy patterns in orbit consistent with a starship's thrusters, large scale construction, and considerable radio wave communication. Seems we've stumbled upon an unknown space-faring race." a trace of excitement could be detected in his voice indicating the species' trademark love of adventure.

At this time Princess Leia walked onto the bridge, curious about the unexpected stop. "Captain Antilles, is there anything wrong?"

"No Princess, but things seem to have gotten interesting. According to our computers we've just stumbled across a space faring race in an unexplored region of space."

This bit of information captured Leia's interest.

This discovery could be the break the Alliance needs. A planet in an unknown location and a technologically advanced people would be a great asset to have in the fight against the Empire. Of course there was no way the Alliance could overthrow the Empire with just the help of one planet, but the fact that it could openly support the Alliance (if she could get the natives to side with them) would allow it to devote more resources and energy to the fight than most of the Alliance's current supporters.

'_But then_,' a pessimistic thought popped into her head, '_if these people have had no contact with the Empire what reason would they have to ally with an illegal rebel movement that has little to offer unless they succeed in toppling a tyrannical galaxy wide government. It's even possible that the Empire is already aware of this planet and in control of it. Keeping such a secret from the Senate is just the sort of thing Palpatine would do. And even if no one in the known galaxy knows about this world, how long would it be before the Empire stumbled upon it in its drive to increase their hold on the Galaxy?_'

Apparently the answer to that question was "not long" as indicated by the blaring alarms announcing the arrival of the Victory Star Destroyer that had ambushed them at Ankus. Antilles didn't even need to ask how the Imperials had found them as quickly as they when communications officer spoke up.

"Kriff! I can't believe I missed this! Sir, someone planted a virus in the computer. It's in the communication systems. It must have sent a burst transmission in the chaos earlier that gave the Imperials our hypderdrive coordinates and they followed us here. It just sent another one which is the only reason I caught it now."

"Did the virus send messages to any other Imperial ships?"

"Unlikely, it was a standard radio burst. There would have to have been more ships at Ankus to hear it."

()()()()()()()()

Star Destroyer _Mangle_

Captain Darkel of the _Mangle_ grinned maliciously as he watched the smaller ship try to flee, one of its duel turbolasers firing upon his own vessel only for the energy bolts to splash harmlessly against his shields. It was a futile show of resistance from the small and minimally armed corvette against the power of his warship. That just made it all the more entertaining, and that just brightened his already good mood.

He had been most fortuitous when his communication officer managed to intercept a transmission sent out by an opportunistic bureaucratic aide, claiming that there would be an important diplomatic envoy from the Rebel Alliance on Ankus. After ensuring the message got no further, it was simply a matter of finding the aide, extracting the information of when and where (the aide had no idea of the Rebel envoy's identity), then finding a dockworker who would gladly slip a rather clever virus onto the rebel's ship and the trap would be set, while he coincidentally 'forgot' to inform the officials in charge of the region about the little operation he had planned.

Darkel didn't need any bureaucrats from either the military or civilian government to mess with his future promotion over the little fact that he had no jurisdiction in the Ankus system.

Everything had worked perfectly, although he had been a bit surprised that the rebels had been brave enough to jump into the Unknown Region he still followed, and because of that choice he now had another jewel to present the Empire.

He could already taste his promotion. Why he might even be promoted all the way to admiral and placed in charge of the soon to be newly acquired Imperial territory, he might even be named Governor.

"Sir, the rebel vessel has opened fire upon us and is attempting to run." informed one of the sensor officers.

"Return fire, but aim for their engines and capture them once they are within range of the tractor beams. I want the ship and crew mostly intact when I present them to the Emperor."

"Captain, sensors have detected multiple ships on an approach vector. The ships are likely native to the system and from the looks of their profile each ship has multiple weapon emplacements. Computer analysis suggests that they are warships, small frigates based on size, but large corvettes based on estimated firepower."

"Are they any threat?"

"Doubtful. Readings indicate no shields and that the _Mangle_ can both outgun and outrun them."

"Ignore them. Focus on the rebel ship, and if the new ones interferes eliminate them."

()()()()()()()()

Planet: Earth

System: Sol

Sector: Not Applicable

Grid Coordinates: H-7

Region: Unknown Regions

Date: CE 75

Terminal Task Force

Nazca-class _Voltaire_

Several minutes earlier

The Terminal task force set up to patrol this region of space was composed of one Nazca, two Laurasias, one Agamemnon, three Nelsons, and four Drakes.

Aboard the _Voltaire_ Commander Joule was going over the current plan with the ship's captain.

"Now that all ships have rendezvoused I want to hold a debriefing among all commanding officers in two hours. After that we head back to headquarters to drop off our prisoners at a holding facility. Then we'll return to our patrol schedule while-"

"Sir, unknown contact has appeared 1500 to port." the crewman on sensor duty called to the captain.

"What? But there's nothing out there. What kind of contact is it? Mobile suit or a ship?" the captain asked.

"Ship sir, it just appeared out of nowhere and the thermal scanners can't match it to anything in the computers. I got a profile on laser imagining but I don't recognize it nor does it match anything in the computer."

The captain gave Yzak a questioning glance that perfectly conveyed his thoughts. Should they investigate this unknown or continue on back to base? But before Commander Joule could make his decision the sensor officer spoke up again.

"Another contact has appeared behind the first, and it's huge! Almost as big as the _Gondwana_ with thermal readings off the charts! It's opened fire on the smaller contact!"

Now Yzak knew what he wanted to do. "Captain, send a transmission out to the other ships of the taskforce and give them the new coordinates. And get all pilots to their machines; we're going to see what's going on over there." With that he left the bridge for the hangar, leaving the captain to carry out his orders.

Things were looking bad for the members of the Rebel Alliance aboard the CR90. One of their few saving graces was that the Star Destroyer was a Victory I model, so it lacked ion cannons, forcing them to use precision turbolaser shots that the rebels did their best to evade, but they couldn't evade them forever and if the captain of the Star destroyer ever decided that he would rather destroy them instead of capturing them then they would be annihilated in a minute. Their other saving grace was the fact that the Victory I's engines were not designed for chasing down ships so its acceleration was slower.

But those advantages were taken away as one lucky shot finally struck home and damaged the _Tantive's_ engine nacelles, its acceleration rate drastically dropping. Then the crew and passengers felt a jerk as the Star Destroyer's tractor beams locked onto them. The _Tantive_ continued to fight but it was futile.

Then suddenly a pair of green energy beams cut a path between the rebel and Imperial ships. There was a lull in the fighting as eleven ships native to the system drew closer to a range of about 100 kilometers away. From the eleven ships a number of smaller machines were launched, from open hangar door on the seven largest ships and directly from the exterior hull for the four smaller ships. The smaller machines were… well the only word that the rebels knew that could really describe the machines would be droids. They were large, larger than a starfighter at any rate, and were humanoid in shape. Some were somewhat round and bulbous and with a single 'eye' in the center of their heads, while others were more angular with a visor in place of the eye.

Five distinct models could be distinguished, but each unit was different in its own way. Then a broad-spectrum transmission was picked up over the radio.

"_This is ZAFT Commander Yzak Joule of the Terminal Joint Fleet. Cease all hostilities, identify yourselves, and prepare to be boarded for inspection. If you do not comply with these orders we will consider you an enemy of the sovereign nations of the Sol Council and act accordingly._"

Aboard the _Mangle_ Captain Darkel stared at the image of the approaching vessels on a side monitor, a scowl upon his face. "What impudence. Launch all fighters. I'll let them deal with those insects as we get back to the real prize." The scowl then reversed itself into a smirk. "But first, it would be rude not introduce myself to my future subjects."

Yzak waited in the cockpit of his GOUF Ignited for the two ships' response. He didn't have to wait long.

"_Terminal soldiers, you are interfering with an Imperial naval operation to capture traitors and dissidents. You __will__ disarm and surrender yourself to the Galactic Empire or you __will__ be the first people of this planet destroyed for the glory of the Empire._"

'_Galactic Empire? What the heck is he talking about?_' thought Yzak for a moment but he didn't have time to wonder about it for long. As the speech ended Yzak noted 24 machines drop out of the open ventral hangar of the larger triangular ship.

The machines were very unusual and more than a little awkward looking. From his veiwscreen's enlarged image he could make out a main body that was spherical with a circular glass viewport with an octagonal design, giving the impression of an eye staring at you. From the sides sprouted two pylons on which were some type of panel, the purpose of which escaped Yzak. They were small and it didn't look like they had any weapons but they could have some new weapons technology that he had never seen before.

But that only described 18 of the machines. The other six were similar but their design seemed a little more conventional. Their main bodies are comprised of two cylinders a little longer than the length of the round machines with curved side panels.

"_Heads up people, we have incoming hostile units. Mobile armors, unknown models. Mobile suit squads will handle them; all suits not at 100 percent hang back and cover the ships. Fire support units, when we make contact break through and go after that big arrowhead. All ships are to activate N-Jammers and provide covering fire.__"_

A series of affirmatives responded as three damaged units such as Teresa's GuAIZ backed off to hover around the _Voltaire_.

The two groups of machines charged each other and faster than Yzak would have thought the spheroids unleashed a volley of beam energy. The mobile suits caught all the energy on their raised shields. When Yzak lowered his shield he barely had time to move out of the way of a barreling machine that was barely a blur as it passed. "_Damn, these bastards are fast!_" He exclaimed. Using the AMBAC to make a 180 degree turn Yzak gave chase to the machine, his GOUF Ignited easily being outpaced. Then the eyeball began to make a large turn to once again face him and Yzak grinned as memories of the First Bloody Valentine War came to the front of his mind. "_But it still moves like a mobile armor!_" He shouted, tracking the machine and unleashing a torrent of beams upon it.

But the mobile armor's speed was problematic as it dipped and dived away, quickly flying out of Yzak's range before turning to once again face him. It fired a torrent of green energy bolts at an amazingly high rate of fire, but was virtually useless as they went wide of their mark, but closed in as the eyeball sped closer. Not wanting to see how long his shield would last Yzak slipped a dozen meters to the right, flew down 20, slipped to the left ten meters, and as the eyeball was blurring past again he did a simultaneous back flip/180 degree spin, firing a volley from his Draupnir the entire time.

This time the beams clipped the mobile armor and shredded the left pylon. The eyeball suddenly went into an out of control spin as it screamed away from the battlefield.

With that enemy defeated Yzak looked to his next opponent, his situational awareness having kept track that most of the enemy units remained. Fully focusing on the battle he found he was right and that the enemy was putting up a damn tough fight. In one isolated corner he saw as a Dagger L's shield failed and cracked under an onslaught of energy. It tried to counter with its CIWS but the projectiles seemed to be little impediment as a torrent of green energy bolts found its torso, blasting apart the mobile suit.

Yzak was about to charge after it but a ZAKU Phantom that he recognized belonged to Shiho got there first, unleashing a spread of missiles. The eyeball tried shooting down the spread but the position of its weapons prevented it from hitting more than a few of the 28 missiles. Several of the explosive projectiles found their mark and exploded, rendering the eyeball dead in space.

Out of the corner of his eye he watched mobile suits form up into groups of three and four and used their beam rifles to herd the eyeballs into the path of each other's attacks. It appeared to be successful, at the very least holding them off if not destroying them as the mobile armors were clearly hampered by the N-Jammers to see anything at long ranges.

()()()()()()()()

_Tantive IV_

Leia watched as the new ships interfered, launched several machines that looked like droids, and a spokesperson that sounded like an officer of a military, or at least an armed organization, ordered the fighting to stop on behalf of that organization. The diplomat in her filed that information away for later. If there was a later that is.

"Those droids look kind of slow." Antilles bleakly observed as Imperial fighters left the Star Destroyer's hangar. "Judging from relative position and assuming they are going full speed then I'd say that our Y-wings could outrun them. They do have the advantage of numbers so that might even things out, but unless they have a trick up their sleeves I don't think they can win."

But the captain's prediction did not come to pass. Despite lacking energy shields the machines managed to block a number of shots from the opening salvo on their metal shields. What was more impressive was how the machines actually dodged the majority, often by no more than a few centimeters.

That's when the real fight began. As one of the TIEs passed the lead white machine it made an impossible 180 degree turn and attempted to shoot the fighter in the back, but the TIE used its speed advantage to get out of range before returning. The white machine countered the TIE's follow up attack with a series of impressive maneuvers conducted in an astoundingly small radius of space before managing to successfully destroy the TIE in a manner similar to its first attempt. Similar moves from the other machines had caught more of the TIEs off guard and evened out the battle to a three on one fight.

"Those droids are incredible." breathed one of the bridge crew.

"I don't think those are droids," said the sensor officer. "It's difficult to tell but it looks like there are life forms in those machines."

Antilles frowned. "Why is it difficult?"

"Some sort of interference that started just before the TIEs began engaging the native machines. I can't get a good sensor reading on anything beyond a thousand meters."

()()()()()()()()

After the initial assault Zeke had managed to break away from the main group and flew towards the large triangular ship flying under the protective cover of the heavy beam cannons, railguns, and missiles of the Terminal warships that were maneuvering to surround the enemy battleship. Along with him were two more Gunner ZAKUs, a Windam and two Dagger Ls equipped with Dopplehorns, and two Launcher Daggers.

Between the eight mobile suits there was a lot of firepower, but as he kept his eyes on the ship belonging to the Galactic Empire, he questioned if their cannons would be any more effective than a flyswatter on a rhino. He questioned their weapon's usefulness namely because the massive ship had a freaking energy shield.

The shield was not like anything he had seen before; situated less than a meter from the ship's surface with no visible projectors and remaining perfectly invisible until beams or projectiles struck it. Beams and explosions just splashed and dispersed against it, and the solid slugs from the railguns seemed to disintegrate.

Several kilometers out the ship opened fire, launching volleys of green energy. Its rate of fire for each cannon being roughly once every four seconds impressed Zeke, but the number of cannons it wielded scared him. Their individual rate of fire was slow enough that the Gunner ZAKU danced out of the path of each shot, but the number of cannons made a virtual rain that would have disintegrated pilots of lesser skill. But it was only after a verbal cuss from the Windam pilot did Zeke come to realize his mistake. The cannons weren't specifically targeting the mobile suits. They were aiming for their carriers.

With horror Zeke oriented his rear camera to see what was going on and breathed a sigh of relief. At a range fifty kilometers out the enemy ship's cannons were going wide of the small (relatively speaking) targets which had spread out over multiple kilometers.

Zeke's relief subsided when the large ship's thrusters glowed brightly, and with surprising agility made a ninety degree turn so its dagger like prow faced the center of the Terminal ship formation and rocketed forward.

'_Damn! If that ship gets closer…_' "Everyone Fire!" he shouted as he unfolded the Orthros and fired at the top of the ship that was passing by underneath heavy mobile suit team. But even after multiple attacks from the high-energy cannons and heavy cannons there was no sign that anything was getting through.

Fireballs burst out in space that Zeke and everyone else saw and the pilots knew instantly that three of their ships had been sunk. The distraction proved to be deadly as the heavy assault mobile suits had been focusing so hard on keeping up with the Star Destroyer while avoiding its attacks and maintaining their own. That loss of attention for a second was enough for one of the other two ZAKU Gunners and the two Dagger Ls to pause for a second too long, meeting their end by being vaporized by a turbolaser bolt.

Seeing the loss of comrades Zeke's vision turned red. "That's it!" He shouted as he ejected the Orthros and rushed at the warship. He grabbed his ZAKU's beam tomahawk and rammed its blade into the shield. The two continuous energy fields clashed, generating small electrical arcs from their interaction.

Zeke then pulled out the beam rifle and careful not to hit his own weapon or arm fired right next to the spot his beam blade was, emptying the energy clip as the Launcher Daggers and last ZAKU poured high-energy fire on the shields nearby. Like Zeke the Windam pilot had discarded the Dopplehorn and was trying to use its two beam sabers to cut through the shields. After what seemed like hours but was actually closer to minutes the Earth pilots succeeded, getting the shields to drop in the section they attacked.

The beam blades made contact with the armor and while it resisted for a moment, it was only for a moment before the blades made progress in cutting out scars as the cannons blasted out turbolasers that had been unable to shoot them because of their close proximity to the hull.

Zeke and the Windam withdrew and while the shield began regenerating it was much weaker. As long as they concentrated their attacks they could penetrate it. But they had used a lot of energy in their assault so far and there was still a lot of ship left to carve up. Thankfully two dozen mobile suit reinforcements from the virtually finished battle with the mobile armors began approaching, weaving through the defensive turbolaser fire.

()()()()()()()()

Teresa held her GuAIZ in position above the _Voltaire_. The leg damage from the previous battle had been fixed, but it still lacked a new railgun. She watched as the double-hulled armors approached, their number reduced by three during the initial attack. They were much slower than the round ones (though still fast by her standards) and had been much easier to target for the mobile suits, so they had broken off to target the ships.

Before they entered into effective range of her beam rifle each ship fired a trio of missiles for a total of 18. Teresa immediately targeted the small fast moving weapons and opened fire with both of her weapons while the _Voltaire_ opened fire with its CIWS, beam cannons, linear cannons, and missiles.

Teresa managed to intercept three missiles while the _Voltaire_ got most of the other, but two of the speedy missile blew past the defensive fire. With their speed there was little Teresa could do to stop them as they impacted the hull, penetrated about half way in… and did nothing.

Teresa thanked her lucky stars that they were duds as she focused on the mobile armors

The _Voltaire_ launched its Dispars; the interceptor missiles locking onto the group of the slow(er) moving mobile armors, destroying two of them.

Teresa launched her GuAIZ forward towards the last remaining machine. It attacked by firing two more missiles that were intercepted by her CIWS, followed by laser fire that Teresa managed to avoid. The two machines charged each other space version of chicken. At the last moment Teresa went up, her beam saber igniting, slashing through the center of the enemy machine.

'_That takes care of them, are there any more?_' Checking her cameras and sensors she found most of the other enemy machines were currently occupied with her fellow pilots. And if her thermals were reading things right one of the Nelsons was trying to get behind the large warship.

()()()()()()()()

Star Destroyer _Mangle_

Things were not looking good for Captain Darkel. What should have been an easy capture of rebel officials had turned into a real mess because of the natives of this system. The TIEs he had sent out expecting them to demolish the unusual machines and destroy their carriers were instead wiped out to ten percent of their number, with only a handful of kills in return.

Now one of the enemy ships had gotten brave and was moving to come around to attack the _Mangle's_ engines, a relative blind spot with limited coverage from the turbolasers.

What was worse was those damnable machines were now buzzing around inside the minimum range of his turbolasers, trying to get through the _Mangle's_ shields. Fortunately their weapons, even those of their ships, weren't strong enough to do anything unless they concentrated their fire, limiting the damage they could do. So if need be Darkel could order a retreat and the _Mangle_ could still make it to hyperspace. He'd only have to suffer the indignity of being the laughing stock of the Imperial Navy. But he wasn't beat yet, he could turn this around.

"_Attention Terminal forces. The primary shield generators for the command tower are the domes atop it. The shield energy is strongest there but once destroyed the Star Destroyer's bridge will be vulnerable. Its destruction will provide a window to defeat it._"

Darkel's eyes widened at the sound of the voice. "What was that!?"

"A message broadcast on all channels originating from the rebel ship."

"Six enemy units are now heading for the shield generators!"

"Turn the ship around! Get us back to Imperial space!"

The bridge trembled from reverberations as the shield generators exploded. The next thing the bridge crew of the _Mangle_ knew were the tremors caused by the explosions that ripped through the ship. Without the shields protecting them from the smaller machines that they couldn't hit, and providing an opening for the ships, the _Mangle_ was in a much more vulnerable position. More tremors shook the ship that was so great that Darkel was thrown from his chair.

Climbing back up his face went pale as he looked out the main viewport. Directly outside looking in was one of the enemy machines. Its eye glowed menacingly as it twirled a large axe before plunging the glowing blade through the viewport, destroying the front half of the bridge. It pulled out the weapon and moved away allowing cold vacuum to finish the job as all surviving officers were pulled from their stations and blown out into space.

()()()()()()()()

Yzak looked around the battlefield. The massive ship was dying without its shields, the mobile suits systematically disabling the ship by destroying the still firing cannons and anything that looked like a weapon or communications device. He did not want anyone aboard that ship to contact compatriots.

With the N-Jammers active he opened up a laser link with the _Voltaire_. "Status report."

"_We managed to avoid the worst of it._" That captain informed him. "_There were some glancing blows that melted the armor but it seems that the N-Jammers did a fine job fouling up their targeting systems. But we do have two holes in the bow plugged by missiles. A crew has gone to see what can be done about them. Thankfully they didn't explode._"

"Be careful," Yzak needlessly warned, "and the explosions earlier? Who was lost?"

"_I'm afraid,_" said the captain sadly, "_The Amzen, Horatio, and Lin were sunk. Preparations are being made to search for survivors but currently we don't have high hopes._" Those ships were a Laurasia, Nelson, and Drake.

Yzak scowled but contained his anger from exploding like it would have done in the first war. As a commander he had to maintain some sense of decorum and remain an example for the men. Still it was difficult knowing that three ships under his command had been sunk, with hundreds of lives lost. It was just as bad as counting the mobile suits that were under his direct command and seeing that eleven machines were missing, the names of their pilots added to the list of letters he would be writing home to families. Sadly short letters as he really didn't know those pilots very well. All this death and he wasn't even sure what he got his men into.

"Deactivate the N-Jammers, sweep for survivors, and collect the mobile suits. The hangars will be tight but we'll make it work." He ordered. "I am going to have a talk with our "guests"." The captain nodded and disconnected to carry out his orders.

With the N-Jammers no longer hampering communications the sweep and collection, the number one priority, was carried out with speed and all due diligence

Seeing that his men were doing what they were trained to do with as much speed and care as they could Yzak once more turned to the unknown ship. He was not a medic nor skilled at rescue work, so would he do something he was good at. Being a heartless and ruthless bastard till he got what he wanted. And right now he wanted answers.

()()()()()()()()

_Tantive IV_

Princess Leia made her choice to help the locals of the system fight the Imperials. Not that they needed much help, but she wanted to ensure that the Empire never discovered what was out here or about the _Tantive's_ rebel activity. She just hoped that the decision did not get her people killed.

The Star Destroyer had been brutalized. Its shield generator shredded by some type of melee weapons, the engines torn apart by the warship, and just about every turbolaser cannon and missile launcher blown apart.

Once the shields were down it seemed the outcome was all but inevitable and could only be changed if the Star Destroyer had the power to run. And it didn't.

If they could do that to a fully operational Star Destroyer the _Tantive IV_ stood no chance of withstanding an assault. And the locals' attentions would be soon be inspecting the rebel ship.

As if summoned by her thoughts the white machine that led the attack flew in front of the _Tantive_, stopping just before the bridge, a sword in its hand, ready to be used if needed.

Then on all channels, "_I thank you for the assistance. Now I'll ask again. Who are you? And was saving you important enough to cost the lives of good men and women?_"

Leia motioned Antilles to stay quiet as she nodded to the communications officer. "_I am Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan. I am a member of the Alliance to Restore the Republic also known as the Rebel Alliance. And I thank you for saving both myself and the people aboard my ship._"

()()()()()()()()

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

There have been things about the original that have bugged me such as the choice of Ord Mantell. I don't know what I was thinking choosing that world as the starting point for the Rebels. Sure Ord Mantell worked out politically, but it is situated deep in the known galaxy so constantly having Threepio say "We're heading toward Wild Space!" did not make much sense. Ankus works out much more nicely in terms of galactic geography.

Another thing I wanted to address is the time scale. I decided that the 6 months after the Second Bloody Valentine and 6 months before the Battle of Yavin was not enough for development so it has been moved to a year after the Second Bloody Valentine and a year before the Battle of Yavin. And it should also be noted that I did away with the BBY/ABY calendar and am now using the Great ReSynchronization dating system. In this dating system the date is written Year: Month: Day, though I am most likely to put just the year and month. It is also based around the Coruscant year which has 368 days divided into 10 months that each have 7 weeks with each week being 5 days long, plus there are three fete weeks that are not part of any month, and 3 days not part of any week reserved for holidays.

Finally I am attempting to even things out in the military arena. In the first battle it was a single Nazca and six mobile suits against a Victory and 24 TIEs with the Earth forces winning handily with little damage and no casualties. This time Earth had eleven vessels in its maiden battle with the Empire and had 50 mobile suits to the Empire's one Victory and 24 TIEs and while they still won they had casualties consisting of three ships, most of said ships' crew, eleven mobile suits, and the pilots.

**Comparison of Energy Weapons:**

Now one thing I am keeping is the general effectiveness of Earth beam weapon against the armor of Imperial ships. However it is not a power thing. In terms of raw energy production Earth just can't compete with the Empire so if I went on that value its likely not even the nuclear powered mobile suits could scratch the armor of an Imperial warship. So my explanation is that Earth beam weapons generate a synthetic energy particle that is integral to the beam's function. This synthetic energy particle has a wave form that disrupts molecular bonds, which makes it easier for the destructive components of the beam to cause destruction even against exceptionally dense material.

On the flip side I am saying that this particle has an accelerated decay rate, so as the beam travels it is getting exponentially weaker, limiting its range to about 10 kilometers with a standard beam rifle (though whether a mobile suit could hit a target at that range is debatable), but at that range it would do minor damage to even lightly armored targets. Scaling up the weapon's power does increase the range, but continually increasing size and power calls for exponentially greater energy demands so it is simply not cost effective to make a weapon larger than the Gottfried, which is why Earth started researching positrons and other alternatives for their most powerful weapons. Also a constant power supply stabilizes it so that's how beam sabers work.

Star Wars lasers on the other hand are capable of achieving greater ranges for far less energy costs and their energy requirements are linear so it is possible to continually build up the power output and effective range of a turbolaser as long as you have the energy to spare (and it has the proper capacitors).

So Earth beams will be effective at close range, ranges that N-Jammers help force the enemy to fight at, while Star Wars laser weapons (though they are not really lasers) are better for attacking at long distances (its canonized that a Venator Star Destroyer's heavy cannons have a range of 10 light-minutes though I don't know if they can actually target another ship at that range).

**Comparison** between **Gundam **beam shields and **Star Wars **energy shields**:**

Beam shields have a greater efficiency at dispersing energy but they are limited in how they can be deployed, restricted to linear planes projected directly from an emitter. Other disadvantages include overheating issues from prolonged use, dual directional blocking, and if I decide to make it similar to UC beam shields it will have a similar composition to a beam saber so it will have a similar destructive effect on physical objects.

Star Wars energy shields are more versatile in that they can be manipulated to only affect objects under certain conditions. They can be unidirectional to allow full coverage of a ship and still allow weapons to shoot out. They can be manipulated into various forms and sizes depending on need and only need a line of sight from the projector to form. They do not have overheating issues. And if enough power is directed to powerful enough generator they can become virtually impenetrable. Their major downside is that the closest thing to an all-purpose shield is the deflector/particle shield type and shields can't really be used for purposes outside their specifications without modifications.


	2. Chapter 2

Growth of a Seed

Disclaimer:

"Speaking"

"_Radio_"

'_Thoughts_'

Location

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Chapter Two

Planet: Earth

System: Sol

Sector: Not Applicable

Grid Coordinates: H-7

Region: Unknown Regions

Date: CE 75

Yzak sat in his GOUF which maintained its position before the unknown vessel. Well not entirely unknown.

A 'Princess Leia Organa' had identified herself as the owner of the ship and with whom she was affiliated, but none of it had made any sense to him. He had never heard of an 'Alliance to Restore the Republic' or of any republic that needed to be restored. Add in that large triangle ship and this 'Galactic Empire' that loud mouth guy spoke about and you had one baffled Coordinator.

Using the GOUF's mono-eye camera he looked in through the ship's viewport to get a better look at who these people were. Sweeping left to right Yzak saw that there were only a few people within what he assumed was the ships bridge. There were some oddities such as the thing that looked like a golden robot, some small cylindrical machine next to the golden one, the… '_What the!_' Sitting on the far right of the bridge in a forward facing control station was a tall, hairless, blue-skinned, red-eyed, nose-less… thing!

What Yzak was seeing was unreal. It couldn't be what he thought it was, yet there was no other possibility. Sitting there within that ship was a living breathing extraterrestrial. If that's what the thing truly was then that meant… "Voltaire_, prepare a shuttle and get a doctor ready for ship-to-ship transfer with a basic med-kit. I need him on the unknown vessel to run some tests. And prepare to send a high-priority message back to base. The Sol Council will have to be informed of what happened here, and possibly of what the test results say._"

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

_Tantive IV_ Bridge

The crew and passenger of the _Tantive IV_ waited with their breath held for the pilot of the white machine to respond to Leia's statement. It was clear that he was in charge, or at least high up the chain of command, and he would probably be the one in control of their imminent future. They watched as the pink eye of the machine swept over them, pausing for a second on Ceda Ban, The Duros helmsman.

"_This is Commander Joule, I don't know who you people are, where you came from, or what you're intentions are but I intend to find out. I'll be coming aboard your ship with a security detail and a doctor to run some tests as soon as my people are ready. I request that Princess Leia Organa, the ship's captain if they are separate people, and that blue… person to wait for our arrival, without weapons. Do you accept?_"

All eyes turned to the princess who was in charge of their mission. Considering their current situation and weighing the possible outcomes in an instant as she had been trained to do she made up her mind instantly. "I agree to your terms."

Instead of replying verbally Commander Joule's machine seemed to nod its head in affirmation before turning around and flying back to its ship, quickly replaced by the ax-wielding machine that had destroyed the Star Destroyer's bridge. Clearly it was there to make sure they didn't try anything funny.

"Are you sure that was wise Princess?" asked Antilles.

"No I'm not," the princess admitted. "But we're hardly in a position to be negotiating with them." Then a bit more cheerfully she said, "However there were some good indicators in that last transmission that this will be a successful first contact. That Commander Joule could clearly see us through the viewport. If the way he responded to our appearance is any indication then it is likely that the natives of this system are human, it has been recorded many times throughout history of a previously unknown human culture suddenly being discovered. And he recognized that helmsman Ban is not human but he remained calm about it. That could be an indicator of this culture's society, or simply that somehow these people are already in contact with an alien species or that they are at least aware that life exists on other planets. That can only be helpful for us."

Princess Leia paused as she realized that everyone within the bridge, including the droids, was staring at her, some with mouths agape. If it had not been for her training in public speaking the young woman would have blushed in modest embarrassment. Instead she met their gaze and, somewhat defensively, said, "It was a requirement for my diplomatic training to take extensive course studies in xeno-psychology. Now I need to prepare for our guests, please inform me when they are about to arrive." With that she quickly turned around and walked out off the bridge to her private quarters.

Antilles looked to her departing form until the bridge doors closed and sealed before turning back to face the rest of the crew. "And that is why you don't get into politics. Flying and maintaining an interstellar starship is a lot less complicated."

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_Tantive IV_ hangar deck, two hours later

Leia waited nervously in the tiny shuttle hangar of the _Tantive IV_. Standing with her was Captain Antilles and Ceda Ban as requested but she had also brought C-3PO just in case they needed his skills. The shuttle hangar they waited in wasn't much and was more often reserved for the use of land speeders. But it did have a magcon field so it could keep the atmosphere contained and allow a shuttle to enter.

The shuttle that she was waiting for was coming from the ship she now knew was named the _Voltaire_ aboard which would be the commander of the force which defeated the Star Destroyer.

Because they knew so little about each other it might seem a bit risky for the commander to come himself but the man had made it clear in no uncertain terms that even if he was aboard the _Tantive_ should they try anything funny the _Voltaire_ would sink them. A threat made deadlier by that fact that with its support ships the natives outnumbered the corvette 8-1, not counting their droid like machines. It also didn't hurt that even the three smallest ships equaled the _Tantive_ in size with the rest being larger.

Not that the _Tantive IV_ could do much anyway. With its engines so extensively damaged a large number of power intensive systems such as propulsion, hyperdrive, shields, and turbolasers were now offline, and the rebels lacked the means to repair such damage on their own. So they would have to rely on the locals if they wanted to ever leave the system.

Eventually the shuttle was within sight and Leia watched it approach. It was small and blocky, and by her standards did not look like it was made to transport people comfortably over long distances. The shuttle approached slowly, using bursts from small verniers to continually adjust its path. The two vessels did not have a compatible beacon system so the pilot had to eyeball it, surprisingly well actually.

Then the shuttle did something strange, or at least strange in Leia's experience. As the front of the shuttle passed through the mag-field it suddenly crashed into the floor, but its engines kept it moving forward steadily, causing more and more of it to start skidding on the floor as it continued to pass through the mag-field, and creating an ear-wrenching metallic screech as it did so.

'_It must not have repulsor lifts!_' Leia thought. It was such an odd notion that a space going vehicle would not have a repulsor. It was one of the oldest and most reliable technologies in the galaxy and could often be found on even the most backwater planets in the galaxy. '_The gravity will have to be turned off before they leave, or else they'll scuff the floor more._'

The ZAFT shuttle came to a shuddering halt and the first person to step off was Yzak. He lost his balance a little as he adjusted to the environment of the ship. '_Heavy,_' he thought, 'r_eminds me of being on Earth._' Yzak regained his balance with the usual Coordinator speed, meaning it wasn't noticeable except to other Coordinators, and continued walking off the shuttle with Dearka and the _Voltaire's_ doctor right behind him and two of the _Voltaire's_ crew who volunteered to be the security detail.

Leia was honestly surprised at how young the commander was, or whom she assumed was the commander from his distinguishing white uniform. She also noted how odd it was for such a young looking human to have silver hair, but that was irrelevant. The man stepped forward and immediately focused on her

"Commander Yzak Joule of Terminal," he greeted. "I assume you are Princess Leia Organa?"

"I am," she answered, giving him a pilot bow that he returned with a less deep bow that was more a tilt of his head.

The commander's eyes quickly scanned Leia's companions. "And these are?"

"Captain Antilles, captain of this ship the _Tantive IV_," began Leia; gesturing to the man she was talking about. She then swept her open hand over to the alien, "this is helmsman Cede Ban, our Duros pilot whom you requested to meet." She then indicated the golden robot. "And this is C-3PO my protocol droid who is highly knowledgeable in numerous foreign cultures, customs, and languages. He is here to help me with our talks."

Yzak's eyes lingered on the shiny gold droid but if he had any comments about it he kept them to himself. Instead he introduced Dearka as head of his security detail. Then the doctor he brought from the _Voltaire_ to whom he spoke to after introduction. "Doctor, I would like to get this over with as soon as possible. Where would be the best place to perform the test?"

"Right here will work if there are no objections." said the doctor as he held up a small hand held device and a pack of needles.

Leia chose this moment to interject. "And exactly what type of test do you require Commander?" She was not about to allow any strange or degrading experiments to be performed on her people if she could help it.

"It's a simple blood test," explained the doctor. "This device is a blood analyzer designed for field use. Depending on the amount of blood it has to analyze it can quickly and easily tell us some basic things like blood type, ratio of blood components, gender, presence of toxins, or…" his eyes moved to the Duros, "whether its human blood or not."

Leia nodded in understanding before she rolled up her sleeve and held her arm out to the group of Terminal soldiers. The doctor wasted no time and quickly obtained a sample. It took about a minute before it got the results they waited for. "Human," said the doctor as he swapped out the old needle with a fresh one and repeating the process with Antilles. The results were the same and soon the doctor was holding the device out to collect from the Duros. The entire Earth crew waited with such intensity that the air was practically electrified. Hesitantly the Duros held out an arm from which a sample of blood was taken. It took longer for the device to spit out its results, several minutes actually which was the longest the doctor ever had to wait on the thing, but finally the results appeared on the screen. The doctor looked up and said with authority, "Not human."

This was the moment that Leia was waiting for. Now that they had definitive proof of alien life from beyond their solar system, what would their reaction be?

Yzak let out a slow breath before turning to the princess. "I suppose I should listen to what you have to say before I submit my report."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Planet: Earth

System: Sol

Sector: Not Applicable

Grid Coordinates: H-7

Region: Unknown Regions

Date: CE 75

3 Days Later

Copernicus City, the only city on the moon built in year 10 of the Cosmic Era according to the Earth calendar. It is a neutral city inhabited and run by civilian and military representatives from every human nation in the Sol system. After the Second Bloody Valentine War it was chosen as the site of the newly created Sol Council, an organization established along similar lines to the old UN whose goal was to prevent the start of another war. The Sol Council held seats for representatives from every sovereign nation both on the Earth's surface and those in orbit. It is also a place where every nation's leader could meet to discuss any major development whose impact would affect all humans, both Coordinators and Naturals.

And now Copernicus City was host to the first living extraterrestrial life forms to make contact with Earth and its people.

Princess Leia stood at the window of the suite she had been given. She had been told that it was a diplomatic suite reserved for foreign representatives. At the computer terminal in the corner stood the _Tantive IV's_ golden protocol droid, busy scanning through a written history of the system they had found themselves in. The droid had quickly discovered that not only was Earth's common spoken language identical to Galactic Basic but that the written version is virtually identical to High Galactic.

At first the natives had been understandably wary of allowing either of the two droids off the ship but after a day's worth of tests performed while the _Tantive_ was being towed revealed that even the more technologically versatile R2-D2 was incapable of manually interfacing with the computer systems of this world, and thus could not hack into systems it wasn't welcome. Still it would only be prudent to assume that they were keeping a record of the terminal's activity.

'_An entire planet untouched by the Empire, and an unknown people that probably don't exist in even the most obscure database,_' mused Leia as she looked out upon the presented vista.

A knocking sound alerted Leia to the presence of someone at the door. The person let himself in meaning that it could only be Captain Antilles whom she had given her spare key to.

"Captain," she greeted, "Any word on the ship?"

"Yes princess. Since it was put into dry dock two days ago our hosts have kept a team examining it around the clock. Unfortunately it is going to take some time to repair it. It seems that the base technology of this system isn't up to galactic standard yet. The crew should be able to help speed things along but we still have to wait for several replacement parts for the engines to be manufactured." Antilles practically grunted out that last part despite being in the presence of his employer. The captain was not happy about the damage his ship took. "The good news is that they actually have the capacity to manufacture the parts so once they get around to it, it should only take a few more days."

"If we must wait then we will. It gives me more time to speak with the leaders of this world. And it's not unheard of for a senator to disappear on an unscheduled vacation. But it would be wise to inform my father of our R&R. Have you been able to contact him?"

"Negative princess, I haven't been able to contact either your father or the Alliance through the HoloNet, nor have I been able to receive anything on the general broadcast channels. We could be out of range of a HoloNet relay station or it could be some kind of interference, but it looks like we won't be talking to anyone until we get out of here." Again the captain was not happy about that. But then it was rarely a good thing to be left stranded in an unfamiliar region of space, amongst a people you don't know, and whom you needed to rely on to get home.

Leia herself was a little worried but there was nothing they could do about it. "Well, father will cover for me in the senate. Since we were on a mission for the Alliance it would be best if the Imperials weren't the ones searching for us. Not only could it lead them here but also to the Alliance."

"Have you heard any word of our host's decision about us?"

"I have spoken to dignitaries of the Sol Council who in turn spoke to their individual leaders who actually hold the council seats. Threepio is currently scanning through the planet's history and will tutor me about it over the next few days as the world leaders gather here. The meeting is scheduled to take place in several days during which time they intend to debrief myself and the entire crew. Otherwise we are free to do as we wish, as long as we remain under supervision."

"And the Imperials aboard the Star Destroyer?"

"There're being troublesome. Whoever took over the command of the ship seems to be a diehard Imperial with no sense. Right now they're holding out in the remains of their ship. The Earth forces are hesitant to try and storm the ship because of the number of crewmen and soldiers that could be aboard, especially after the first incident."

_Flashback_

Morgan's GuAIZ R mobile suit and a Dagger L slowly rose upwards towards the ventral hangar of the ship identified as a Victory-class Star Destroyer. It had been a little over twenty-four hours since the battle between Terminal and the large ship and it had been silent the whole time. The one exception was when some lieutenant made a broadcast over the radio that as the highest ranking officer on the ship he was in command and that he refused to surrender.

Not exactly a smart move, but word had spread throughout the _Voltaire_ that the leader of the other ship, the Princess Organa, had stated during a brief interview that the Galactic Empire desired loyalty and obedience above all else from its various military branches and bureaucracies. Competency and the ability to think rationally were still desired traits, but they just weren't as valuable. But that didn't mean that there were no competent officers in the military, they are just assigned to more important locations such as the Core.

Since the Imperials had cut off communication Terminal needed an idea of what they were doing aboard their ship. The final decision was that a pair of pilots would take their mobile suits and fly them up into the main docking bay to get a look at what was going on in the hangar. It was a volunteer mission because there was a high likelihood that there was some sort of trap waiting. Morgan volunteered instantly. And that's why his mobile suit was now floating towards the large hangar entrance on the bottom of the ship.

The minutes passed somewhat anti-climatically as the mobile suits passed through the magcon field and he could finally see the whites, grays, and black of the Imperial hangar.

Then a flash of red!

That was Morgan's only warning as his Coordinator reflexes kicked in, forcing his hovering mobile suit to veer to the side. But the attack hadn't been aimed at him and did strike its target, the Dagger L, in the torso, ripping the machine in two pieces that fell back into the void.

Instinctively he snapped the rifle arm of his GuAIZ up and fired upon the attacker. The beam lanced out, striking the massive and slightly clunky looking animal-based mobile suit at an angle. The beam tore through the side of the armored rear end where it must have hit the power generator as the thing exploded, destroying two smaller ones that were standing at its side.

Not interested in seeing if there were any more surprises Morgan immediately reversed his mobile suit and flew down and out of the hangar just as more red energy darts passed through the space the GuAIZ R just occupied. "Damn that was close," he breathed as he grabbed the floating pieces of the Dagger L.

"_Morgan what's your status?_" asked the _Voltaire's_ mobile suit communications officer.

"I'm fine, but they got Mack. They had some kind of weapon waiting in case we tried going up the hangar, kind of like we expected. I only got a glimpse of it before it blew up but it kind of looked like a tank with four legs instead of treads. It was bigger than a mobile suit."

"…_Morgan why did it explode?_" asked Yzak from the bridge.

"Because I shot it with my beam rifle."

"…"

"Hey it got Mack! I had to retaliate! And maybe now those nimrods will surrender!"

"_Fine, it was self-defense so there won't be a reprimand. Just get back to the ship,_" growled Yzak.

"Uh, yes sir."

_Flashback End_

Antilles, who now sat on the rather comfortable overstuffed sofa, thought about what the Imperials were doing. "Idiots, that's what they are." He eventually said. "Unless they can make external repairs their ship is useless. And I doubt that the people of Earth are about to allow a group as hostile as the Imperials are to do that."

"It doesn't matter," stated Leia from her armchair. "What happens to them is of little concern to us. Even if they were to be released back to the Empire they don't know who we are and only that our ship is a Corellian Corvette, one of the most common models in the galaxy." Closing her eyes and resting her head on the backrest so that her face pointed upwards. "What we have to worry about is the upcoming meeting."

It was peaceful contemplation for the two humans that was suddenly interrupted by the one droid. "Oh My! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear."

"Threepio, what's wrong?" asked Leia.

"Excuse me Princess but I have just finished with the history analysis, as well as a download of all native languages and customs. But the most recent data is…"

"What exactly have you found Threepio?" asked Antilles.

"War," stated Threepio. "This planet's history is rife with passages of war, with entire decades referred to as the Reconstruction Wars which occurred less than 80 years ago. Two of their worst wars occurred only a short time ago."

Leia was silent for moment before saying, "I had thought that would be a possibility. It is common for any planet that has multiple nations to have wars between those nations."

"Yes princess," Threepio confirmed quietly. "But it is how long ago the last war was and what it was about that worries me."

The princess cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "You just said the Reconstruction Wars were 80 years ago. Were there more?"

"The last war on this planet, a war that involved every nation, ended only one local year ago…" That shocked Leia. She had been thinking that it would have been closer to six local years at least. "…and while there were several official reasons for why the war and the one before it started, it seems most people believe that the root cause had nothing to do with politics or any philosophical beliefs but rather genetics and between Naturals and Coordinators."

Both Leia and Antilles were confused by that last part. "Between the what?" the captain asked.

Then Threepio went into a detail filled explanation of how near the beginning of this planet's current calendar new technology and techniques in genetic manipulation were introduced and how this technology was used to alter the genetics of embryos in the earliest stages of development to make children that had physically more powerful bodies, that were immune to all known diseases, and minds that learned more easily and were capable of thought processes far beyond the ordinary. These children were named Coordinators and the superior genetics of the first generation was passed on to their children.

He explained how children born without these enhancements came to be called Naturals. And that many Naturals, for various religious and philosophical reasons, spurred by the envy they felt, came to hate Coordinators for their abilities and for how they came to be.

This eventually led to the forming of the terrorist group Blue Cosmos. Similarly a number of Coordinators, now called Zalaites after deceased Supreme Chairman Zala, started believing that they were a new evolution of the human race and humanity's future and that Naturals were dangerous vermin that needed to be removed for the sake of future Coordinators.

Ultimately the differences between Coordinators and Naturals led to the majority of Coordinators' choice to immigrate to the PLANTs, the large orbital cities they had seen while being towed to the moon, leaving the Earth in the hands of the Naturals.

Then Threepio explained how only a few years ago a series of events, such as the bombing of the UN, caused an escalation of tension which led to the Bloody Valentine War, a war between the PLANTs and the Earth Alliance and the first war to see the use of mobile suits. Threepio explained of the numerous important events such as the Bloody Valentine, the dropping of the N-Jammers, the two times the Cyclops system was used, the use of nuclear weapons, and the battles involving the superweapon Genesis. Then the two years of peace before entering the Second Bloody Valentine war, a war that people attributed to corrupt leaders instigating conflict through secret dealings as a means to take advantage of the people's feelings and manipulate them to ultimately try and take control of the world.

At the end of the droid's speech Princess Leia was looking worried. "This complicates matters." She would have to double check everything herself, but from what Threepio had said this would make her negotiations unpredictable at best. From the signs of the people she had met so far, the inhabitants were working hard to unify themselves in a way to prevent a future war.

This would indicate that they were tired of war and would probably want nothing to do with the Rebellion and their fight against the Empire. The people may be enticed by the prospect of a galaxy full of life, new technologies, and other possibilities, but if they wanted to avoid war then they may believe that the best way to avoid the Empire is to stay in this hidden and unexplored part of the galaxy. However it was still possible that Leia could convince them that it was only a matter of time before the Empire found them here.

But one of things that most worried her was the matter of the two superweapons Threepio mentioned. Genesis and Requiem were both very powerful weapons that had wiped out entire fleets of Earth ships, and had the potential to put an end to all life on a planet.

Though ending life on a planet through firepower was already in the Empire's grasp, it could only be done through the use of large fleets. What was frightening about these weapons was that they concentrated that firepower into a single attack.

She had little doubt that such weapons could be used to great effect in the rest of the galaxy. If this system bound people could build not one but two such weapons then what could an empire composed of millions of planets do? She shuddered at the thought of what atrocities the Emperor, and men like Moff Tarkin, would commit if they had such firepower at their disposal.

"Threepio," she eventually said. "Tell me everything you know about the leaders that will be coming to the negations."

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Planet: Earth

System: Sol

Sector: Not Applicable

Grid Coordinates: H-7

Region: Unknown Regions

Date: CE 75

Star Destroyer _Mangle_

Aboard the Victory-class Star Destroyer moral was not high among the crewmen. This was obvious to one young junior Lieutenant Tristan Pellaeon. He sat in the ship's mess hall, listening to the conversations around him.

Things were looking bad for the ship and crew with a considerable percentage of the senior staff having been killed. And it wasn't just the bridge crew. Many of the senior gunnery officers and engineers had been killed during the systematic disabling of the _Mangle's_ weapons, communications, and engines systems.

The _Mangle_ currently did not have a full load of consumables, only enough to last a year, and most of the food was premade military rations which no one wanted to eat after a week.

With the loss of their engines the ship's power requirements were reduced so the fuel for the hypermatter annihilation reactor would last longer, not that that was much of a positive note in this situation.

Also, amongst the men there was a lot of talk that had to do with the system they found themselves in and how impossibly quick they had been defeated, mostly done in the form of whispers and rumors to avoid the attention of those in charge.

Tristan had to admit to himself after having reviewed the battle records that the machines they had fought had seemed impossibly effective. The _Mangle's_ shields had been able to temporarily stop them as was normal for the ship's primary defense, but what really worried him was how easily their weapons had bypassed the secondary defense, the ship's armor.

The armor on most of the Empire's naval combat ships was strong enough that it could take significant punishment from turbolasers, and took a significant concentration of firepower for small machines to do any damage. It did no good for systems that had to be outside the armor to work properly such as sensors or communication but it did prevent the hull from being ruptured thus preventing the destruction of the ship. On a vessel the size of the _Mangle_ the armor was thick enough that it was virtually impenetrable to starfighter laser that was neither concentrated nor prolonged.

But the armor didn't hold up against the local machines. Instead the enemy's energy weapons had sliced right through it, leaving the exterior armor pockmarked with craters and scars, and some people considered it lucky the hull integrity hadn't been completely compromised. There were even rumors of Jedi from the oldest members of the crew, men who had served in the Clone Wars, because of the energy melee weapons seen.

Then there was the AT-AT. The All Terrain Assault Transport walker had the strongest armor of any ground vehicle and was comparable to a capital ship's armor and only a high-yield explosive like a proton torpedo or a turbolaser should have been able to destroy it in one shot, yet the machines that had tried to infiltrate the hangar had done so, even if logic dictated that judging from its size it shouldn't have had the power available to do that.

That could only mean that whoever controlled this system had developed not only a high performance machine with impossible agility (even if they were ponderously slow), but has equipped each machine with a weapon that was far more destructive then the standard laser cannon found on most starfighters.

If all that was true then the _Mangle_ could be destroyed at any moment with all of the people aboard killed. But the officers currently in charge either haven't come to realize that possibility yet, or they simply didn't care.

Yet what really galled Tristan more than anything was that everything from the past few days could have been avoided. The Corellian Corvette was dead in the water by the time the system's natives came and interfered. All Captain Darkel had to do was acquiesce to their demands of allowing an inspection of the situation, perfectly reasonable since the Imperials were intruding on their territory with no formal warning or request. Had he done that he could have calmly explained the situation, and then the _Mangle_ may have had the chance to fly away unmolested and Darkel could have simply reported the discovery and let the higher-ups deal with the locals at their discretion.

But no, the captain decided that posturing with the Empire's military power would be sufficient to destroy some ships and cow the locals into submission. And because of that decision the Imperials had their collective asses handed to them.

In an attempt to calm himself Tristan thought of his uncle, the man who was his inspiration to join the Imperial Navy and currently served as XO aboard one of the Navy's Imperial Star Destroyers. His uncle was a good man who believed that fundamentally the Empire was a good thing. That it brought order and security to a chaotic and dangerous galaxy.

Tristan had believed the same as his uncle at first, but experience in the Navy had planted the seeds of doubt that developed with each passing month.

He wouldn't argue that the Empire has made considerable headway in its efforts to eradicate pirating, but it could be argued that their effort to control and tax trade had only spurred the creation of more smugglers.

And the way the Empire dealt with dissidents had always felt extreme to him, having firsthand accounts of ships claiming to be carrying civilians only to be destroyed by zealous officers on the suspicion that the ships were carrying rebels. And although he had no evidence, he had heard of entire populations on remote worlds being destroyed for defying the will of the Empire.

Then there was Imperial Decree A-SL-4557.607.232 which legalized the use of sentients for slave labor under specified conditions. Or the Navy's unwritten Non-HuMan policy which reserved the best posts and commands for human males while aliens and females were discouraged from joining while those that did were often placed in unimportant positions even if they had genius level ability.

These were the things that made Tristan question Imperial service and even his uncle admitted caused him some concern

As he sat there listening and going over old worries about his life's choice, Tristan remembered something his uncle once said to him when he joined the Imperial Navy. "A good officer is committed to doing their duty. Their life is not their own. They must be dedicated to their service to the military, the Empire, the duty to ensure that their men get home safely, and above all the safety and welfare of the Empire's citizens that we protect. If a man cannot remember that then they do not deserve to serve as an officer on one of His Majesty's ships."

With that in mind Tristan stood up from his seat and made his way over to the group most vocal against what those in charge were doing.

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Planet: Earth

System: Sol

Sector: Not Applicable

Grid Coordinates: H-7

Region: Unknown Regions

Date: CE 75

Three more days had passed and the time had finally come for Leia to meet the leaders of this planet's nations. The chamber they were meeting in was a grand one whose construction was finished only months ago.

One half of the room was occupied by twelve half-circle tables built into the floor, with each table possessing several computer terminals and seats for the representatives and several aides.

The tables were set in a half-circle pattern so that it would be easy for each representative to see and hear each other, and each table bore along its front the flag of the nation of the representative that sat there.

There was a thirteenth table reserved for guests that could rise up out of the floor that had been placed on the opposite end of the room facing the rest of the representatives' seats. Along each wall were four large monitors accompanied by several smaller monitors.

Currently Leia sat at the guest speaker's table with Threepio and Antilles. The Duros helmsman of the _Tantive IV_ had also been invited but he declined. He would have only been there to enforce the fact that the people of the _Tantive IV_ came from beyond the solar system.

Leia watched the various world leaders and their escorts enter, listing off the information she had acquired about each. The list included the Prime Ministers, Premiers, a King, Presidents, and Chief Representatives of the PLANTs, Orb Union, Atlantic Federation, Eurasian Federation, Republic of East Asia, South Africa Union, African Community, Oceania Union, the Equilateral Union, the Kingdom of Scandinavia, and United States of South America.

Among the more prominent members to enter was George White. '_George White, new president of the Atlantic Federation, came into office shortly after the death of the previous president admits calls for a reformation of the government at the end of the last war. A young man by Earth's standards he has grown popular among the people for his calm yet forceful demeanor when dealing with others, his moderate beliefs, and his more liberal views on Coordinators. He has spent considerable time and energy during his administration clearing out the corruption that has plagued and controlled the Atlantic Federation for years._'

But the real 'stars' she noted were the leaders of the PLANTs and the Orb Union, Supreme Chairwoman Lacus Clyne and Chief Representative Cagalli Yula Athha, both of whom were sitting at the center tables of the representatives. Antilles had noted previously that the two women had a lot in common with the princess of Alderaan. Both were daughters of influential leaders, leaders who did what they thought was right even if it put them in danger. Both had at a young age taken over their fathers' previous positions of leadership. Both had joined up with a 'rebel' group in order to restore peace to their world and to try to make it a better place, and one of them even had military training like Leia had.

Leia herself heard the comparisons, understood them, and hoped to use that to understand them and hopefully get them to agree to what Leia wished to propose. From what she had learned since arriving in this system it was these two who, because of all they had done in the past three years, held the greatest influence amongst the Sol Council and the general population of Earth's people. The power they had was a little intimidating individually, but together it was beyond words.

Cagalli Yula Athha was a woman who let her actions speak for her. She loved her people and would go to any lengths for them, even fighting on the front-lines to defend them if there was a need to do so. She had earned the respect of her nation's military and the civilians adored her for saving Orb in its darkest hour during the last war.

Lacus Clyne was a magnificent orator that could move the hearts of people. While she was not a fighter like her counterpart from Orb she had shown her own dedication and courage by commanding a ship on the frontlines of battle against a numerically superior force. And the woman was one of the few Coordinators present.

Leia had met many members from numerous alien species that are physically larger and more powerful than humans and was not bothered by them, but she found it a little disconcerting that this petite woman who was a little shorter than Leia and probably a few pounds lighter could probably break her in two if she really wanted to.

Sitting beside each woman were two more notable mentions. Kira Yamato and Athrun Zala, two men who were considered to be among the very best, if not the absolute best, of mobile suit pilots, who played key roles in the previous two wars, and held unusual positions in the current world. Kira Yamato held two military positions, one for Orb where he held the rank of Admiral and one in ZAFT where he is a Commander and is Lacus Clyne's security escort. Athrun Zala was in a similar position, holding the rank of Captain in Orb's military and is in charge of Cagalli's security, and for ZAFT he had been restored to his position as an agent of FAITH by Lacus.

These two were considered heroes in the military forces of the world, and their thoughts would hold a lot of weight amongst military leaders.

But one thing Leia couldn't get out of her head was the odd look she had noticed Kira Yamato had given her. It appeared as if Mr. Yamato had recognized something about her. The funny thing was that as soon as he walked into the room Leia has heard a faint yet annoying buzz in the back of her head, but she had quickly dismissed it and focused all of her attention on the task she came here for, and had gotten rid of it.

At last everyone had arrived and was ready. Only one of the twelve tables remained empty, the table reserved for the Martian colonists delegation. It remained empty due to ongoing difficulties involving the distances that restricted travel and communication between the two worlds. Transcripts of the meeting were to be sent to Mars so the Martian people could look everything over.

The lights along the outer edge of the room dimmed increasing the shadows along the wall, creating the illusion that the room and all the people within were separated from the rest of the world. Once this had happened Lacus Clyne stood up, a friendly and open smile upon her face.

"Hello everyone, it's good to see you all here. And I am most glad to greet our guests here today, Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan."

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Oversector: Bright Jewel Oversector

Region: Mid Rim

Date: 34:2

Praetor II Battlecruiser: _Venomous Fang_

Admiral Davros waited patiently within the office section of his personal quarters, the music of a Coruscanti ballad drifting through the air as he enjoyed a cup of tea imported from Alderaan. It was a brief respite from the daily tedium of military bureaucracy and the onerous task of finding and destroying any pirates or rebels found in the area he was assigned to watch over. But to his annoyance it was not to be as long as he would have liked as all too soon there was a beep signaling that someone desired an audience with him.

He granted entry to the visitor, one of his aides asked somewhat snappishly, "What is it?"

"Sir, there's an anomaly in the patrol reports."

"Explain."

"Captain Darkel and the _Mangle_ have disappeared from their scheduled patrol route. According to regional reports they were last seen at Ansion in the Churnis Sector." It took the Admiral a bit of time to recall where he had heard the name, remembering only that Ansion sat on the Namadii Corridor and that the local Moff had dissolved a number of the local treaties. Other than that it was unremarkable, and beyond Darkel's patrol route.

Davros sighed in annoyance. Darkel had been a nuisance to the Admiral for some time. It was hardly a secret that the captain was gunning for an Admiral's post for himself, but he just wasn't competent enough to get it. Davros would love to have the little annoyance out from under his feet and since the _Mangle_ is a valuable ship Darkel's sudden deviance from standing orders would have to be investigated.

But what was Darkel doing in a region he had no official authority beyond that granted by the sheer virtue that he is an Imperial Navy captain? Could he have found some prize out there that he wanted to snatch for himself, something valuable enough that he would risk a potential court martial?

Either way Davros would have to investigate and one way or another Darkel would no longer be his problem. And if luck was with him the Admiral could take the prize for himself.

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Author's Notes:

People will notice that the _Venomous Fang_ is no longer an Imperial Star Destroyer. It has been upgraded to a Praetor II Battlecruiser. The Praetor II made its debut back in a 1982 Star Wars comic book where it served as the flagship to a powerful Imperial armada, and the class has not been seen since until it received its own piece in the 2012 "Star Wars Essential Guide to Warfare" where additional information and new artwork was provided and a second ship was named.

The Praetor II is a battlecruiser, which under the Anaxes War College System (another item introduced in the Guide to Warfare) is any warship between 2,000 and 5,000 meters. Specifically it is listed as 4,800 meters long and was introduced shortly after the end of the Clone Wars in the year 19 BBY or year 16 after the Great ReSynchronization. Few ships of the class were ever built because while more powerful than an Imperial Star Destroyer they were inherently much more expensive to build and operate and were considered less versatile while lacking the sheer terror-inspiring ability of Star Dreadnaughts (ships above 5,000 meters in length).

There are currently no official stats in terms of firepower (except that it has over 90 cannons) or its carrying capacity so I am just going to base it off of my best guess. Since it is three times the size of an Imperial Star Destroyer will give it roughly three times the firepower so its stats are…

Armaments:

6- Quad Heavy Turbolasers

6- Dual Heavy Ion Cannon Turrets

18- Dual Heavy Turbolaser Turrets

180- Standard Turbolasers

180- Standard Ion Cannons

50- Proton Torpedo Tubes (16 missiles per tube)

50- Quad Pin-Point Defense Laser Cannons

20- Tractor Beam Projectors

Carrying Capacity When Fully Loaded:

96- TIE/ln Starfighters

36- TIE/sa Bombers

100- Various Assault Shuttles/Gunboats/Boarding Craft

30- AT-AT Walkers

60- AT-ST Walkers

10- AT-AA Walkers

50- Heavy Assault Vehicle/wheeled Juggernaut models

5- Heavy Assault Vehicle/repulsorlift A9 Floating Fortress

20- Light Assault Vehicle/repulsorlift QH-7 Chariot

30- 2-M Saber-class Repulsor Tanks

60- TX-130T Repulsor Fighter Tanks

100- 74-Z Speeder Bikes

20- Swift Assault 5 Hoverscouts

10- Self-Propelled Medium Artillery

60- TIE ap-1 Mauler Tanks

200- Various Support Land/Air speeders

1- Prefabricated Garrison Base

3- Prefabricated Support Barracks

**Troop Carrying Capacity:**

2- Imperial Army Battlegroups

1- Stormtrooper Legion

Crew Compliment:

18,470 Officers

69,625 Enlisted

925 Gunners

Cargo Capacity:

97,200 Metric Tons

Consumables:

6 Years

Now anyone familiar with the first version of my story would be asking why, if the military aspects of the Empire and Earth are more even, Davros's flagship is being up-scaled. The reason is because I decided to redo the battle scene in chapter 4. The Empire will have smaller number of smaller ships plus one big one that is rare enough that its loss would attract the Emperor's attention, to maintain certain consistencies with later chapters.


	3. Chapter 3

Growth of a Seed

Disclaimer:

"Speaking"

"_Radio_"

'_Thoughts_'

Location

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Chapter 3

Planet: Earth

System: Sol

Sector: Not Applicable

Grid Coordinates: H-7

Region: Unknown Regions

Date: CE 75

President White overlooked the view of Copernicus City from his veranda as he poured wine from a decanter into two glasses resting on the stand beside him. The meeting with the extraterrestrials had ended a short while ago, but only after several hours of 'storytelling' followed by a much shorter time spent actually debating or negotiating.

It had been a rather momentous occasion, the first official talks with beings that lived beyond the solar system, one of whom was even a high ranking political official for two galactic organizations, though she only considered herself loyal to one.

However the circumstances of these interstellar visitors' visit ultimately led to only one possible outcome for the negotiations. But while the negotiations had one outcome, his request would have a less predictable outcome with Earth's politicians

_**Flashback**_

The world leaders took a few moments of silence to contemplate everything they had been told.

Princess Organa had spent the most time talking, explaining to her listeners what the galaxy beyond their system was like and what sort of political environment enshrouded the Galactic Empire, the strongest ruling power in the galaxy. More than a few times during her explanation had the princess been interrupted and asked to elaborate on a point, such as how the Galactic Republic could become the Galactic Empire through a single man's manipulation.

Leia was able to tell part of the story thanks to what her father had told her of what happened almost twenty years ago, but even of the people who knew what the Emperor did, not one fully understood how Palpatine had managed to do it. The only plausible explanation, one that Leia's father suspected, as to how it could be done was if Palpatine had orchestrated all of the events behind the Clone Wars.

That he had manipulated politics in a manner so to frustrate the entities that would form the Confederacy of Independent Systems, creating an external threat that would provoke the first Republic military buildup in a thousand years, while introducing hundreds of acts that gave the then Supreme Chancellor emergency powers that increased his individual control over the Republic. Powers that he promised to relinquish after the war but never did.

Near the end of the war, after the death of Separatist leader Count Dooku, Republic morale was high as the Confederacy was forced to retreat to the Outer Rim, and much of the Republic's success in the war was attributed to Palpatine's leadership, so when the Chancellor proclaimed himself Emperor with the promise that his enforcer Vader would destroy the Confederacy's leadership council and would deactivate the droid armies, he was met with almost unanimous and thunderous applause from the Senate.

Since then the Empire has been steadily stripping individual worlds and Senators of powers they have traditionally held, ostensibly under the reasoning that it was all for the streamlining of bureaucracy. But it effectively placed all the real governmental powers in the hands of Palpatine, his advisers, and the Moffs while the Senate had been turned into but a shadow of its former self from the days of the Republic.

But the Empire didn't stop there. It brutally crushed dissidents and rebels, forcing them into hard-labor camps without much more than a mock trial, if they weren't killed outright. For high profile individuals for whom there was no solid evidence that they were against the Empire, disappearance and assassination was the order of the day.

She spoke of how entire worlds and species that were considered too rebellious or primitive were put under strict Imperial supervision and were often used as slave labor, and cited the examples of the Wookies from Kashyyyk, Mon Calamari from Dac, and the nearby Cragmoloids on Ankus. The Empire commits these atrocities against sentient races, all while pandering to the rich and powerful worlds and corporations that support the Empire and increase its power through their efforts.

Once she was done, the princess then made a request.

She requested that the people of Earth, as fellow believers in democracy and freedom to aid the Alliance to restore the Republic in its fight against the oppressive tyranny of the Galactic Empire. The request had been made respectfully, but to the more experienced politicians there was a noticeable hint of pleading. Understandable, for if what Leia had said was the truth then the Rebel Alliance was in desperate need of… well, everything if they truly wanted to defeat the Empire.

The world leaders than spent the next lengthy amount of time discussing everything that had been said. When they were finished, Lacus addressed Leia. "Thank you for explaining the situation to us, Miss Organa. It has been very enlightening. And while I speak for everyone here when I say that we sympathize with your plight, we cannot help you. We have only just begun to truly recover from our own wars. I'm afraid that to take part in another at this time is not possible."

Leia understood but she wasn't ready to give up yet, "But what of a technological trade? It won't take away from your resources and our technology could help you with reconstruction efforts. And after having seen your military capabilities, I believe that your technology could give the Alliance an advantage in at least small engagements."

"For the time being, we also can't do that," responded the Prime Minister of the Eurasian Federation. "Currently, the only source of information we have concerning the rest of the galaxy is what you and the members of your ship's crew tells us. What if you are lying to us so as to later stab us in the back? After reviewing records of the battle, we have come to the agreement that our mobile suits and weapons technology will allow us to fight off interlopers. Any advantage they provide is an edge we cannot give to others at the risk it would be turned against us."

That was what it all boiled down to, trust and safety.

If they trusted that Leia was telling the truth, then the people of Earth would find it both desirable and beneficial to give the Alliance aid, but then their safety would be at risk should the Empire discover them and bring the full force of its military power down upon them.

They were also afraid, as the Eurasian leader had stated that Leia was being dishonest. That the intentions of the Alliance are not the noble endeavors she made them out to be, and that it was nothing more than a band of criminals, if it even existed as they had no proof beyond what she provided. Or the possibility, however improbable, that the whole battle was staged as a ruse to fool the people of Earth. At that time the president of the Atlantic Federation spoke up.

"I have a proposal for the Council to consider. This Galactic Empire, if it is anything like the princess described, is clearly a threat to our planet, people, and way of life. But, as my Eurasian colleague pointed out, aside from what we have learned through communication with the Imperial ship, we only have her word of what the Alliance and the Empire are like and what their individuals intentions are. What I propose is that we send a group out into the galaxy with the princess and her ship when they leave, whose mission will be to learn of what the galaxy is like and report back to us. Based on their report, we will make our final decision on which faction we choose to join, if any."

Lacus was the first to respond. "That is a reasonable suggestion, and shall be put to a vote. All those in favor…

"Aye" was spoken by every representative who could cast a vote.

"And against?" the question was met with silence. "The proposal has been met with unanimous approval. Each member of the Council will select an individual they trust to act as an observer and from their report we will make our final decision. Is there anything else that someone would like to add?"

"Actually," began White yet again, "I have a second proposal. The formation of a special exemption clause so that in the event of another incursion by a hostile extraterrestrial military force there will be a temporary lift on the prohibition of the weapons listed under Article 5, Section 12. I also call for an amendment to Article 5 Sections 4-8 that would allow the continuation of the listed research and development efforts… under controlled conditions of course."

The response to the proposal was immediate as Cagalli stood in a rush, toppling her chair, and slammed her hands against the table. "How can you even consider suggesting that!" she accused of him. "Those weapons and all research involving them were banned for a reason!"

A number of the individuals murmured agreements with the REA Prime Minister being the most vocal. "I concur with the Chief Representative of Orb," he proclaimed loudly. "It is an insult to suggest the resurrection of those monstrosities, such as the Cyclops and Destroys, after so many people were killed by them."

The statement was plainly designed to solidify the general undercurrent of dislike for the proposal and at the AF President for suggesting it since the Atlantic Federation was the only institution to have used both the Cyclops and the Destroy mobile armor, weapons that not only killed many ZAFT soldiers but had also been turned against the Eurasians and East Asians.

George White weathered the rebuke to his proposal with stone-like neutrality, waiting for the clamor to quiet. When it had he focused his gaze on the REA Prime Minister and spoke sternly.

"I do not make these proposals lightly. My nation and people have suffered through considerable stigma because of the previous administrations' choices in not only deploying WMDs but also in how they were used. I also do not need to remind anyone here that every time the Atlantic Federation has used a WMD, it was not long before they were countered by a weapon of equal if not greater destructive ability."

The statement was true. For the Bloody Valentine incident there was the April Fools drop. For JOSH-A there was Panama. For Boaz there was Genesis. For the N-Jammer Canceller there was the Neutron Stampeder. For Requiem there was Requiem.

"But this is an extreme situation. There are technologically advanced, potentially hostile, civilizations out there, the most powerful of which is an Empire that has the resources of millions of planets at its disposal. Even if it's a futile fight, I would not be able to rest in my grave knowing I had not utilized every resource to defend my home and I doubt any of you could either." He paused and took a deep breath and released it slowly, draining away the passion that had been rising in his heart. "Besides, I only suggested we used the tools at our disposal. I did not request any alteration to Sections 9, 10, or 13."

_**Flashback End**_

The first proposal was accepted by all parties as it was seemingly the most logical course of action at the moment. It was also ruled by the council that until they came back, their reports were thoroughly reviewed, and a final decision made, no aid was to be given to the visitors beyond what they needed to get back home.

That was the outcome White and probably just about everyone there had predicted. Now he just had to wait and see if everyone would accept the second.

The sound of a pair of footsteps alerted the President to the arrival of his expected guest. "I'm glad you could make it so soon." He said, turning to the gentleman that had walked into the presidential suite, holding out the second glass of wine which was accepted. The gentleman was elderly, bald, bearded, and needed a cane though he still proudly walked straight and tall. "I thought you would be so immersed in your work that you would completely forget our appointment."

"I am not a man to forget my priorities," stated the old man seriously. "This arrangement is too important for both of us." He took a sip from his glass and spent a moment mentally appraising the wine. "I assume that the negotiations went according to our predictions?"

"They did, which means we have to stick to the plan."

The elder gentleman glanced over to the young president. "Are you sure you want to do this? You still have most of your life ahead of you and should something go wrong, your career and reputation…"

"Don't try talking me out of this now; I was the one to contact you. The importance of this deal is too great, and with great reward comes great risk. A risk I am willing to take." The president's face darkened with a frown as he dredged up memories. "The Atlantic Federation, my home and the country I love, is just a shadow of its former self. For too long, the likes of Blue Cosmos and Logos have manipulated and used us for their own gain, only for their plans to fail and backlash on them, taking the Atlantic Federation with them as they fell. Ever since I took office, I dedicated myself to restoring my country to its former glory."

"I wonder whether you are demonstrating the determination of passion or the fanciful follies of youth," muttered the old man.

To this comment, the president just grinned. "I like to think it's a bit of both," he admitted. "But you surely can't tell me that you're not excited about this. After all, if everything works out you should be one step closer to finishing your project, and stand to claim the title of greatest scientific innovator in human history." He paused for a moment and considered his words, "Or, at the very least, in the history of this planet."

The old man smiled in amusement. White had figured out his hidden emotions quite easily and with frightening accuracy. "The title is just a trinket compared to the knowledge of what my work could create. You should know that for your goals are similar, are they not, Mr. President?"

"Indeed they are, Mr. Schenberg."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Planet: Ankus

System: Ankus

Sector: Freestanding Subsectors

Oversector: Not Applicable, Just Galactic West Bright Jewel Oversector

Grid Coordinates: I-7

Region: Mid Rim

Date: 34:2

Praetor II Battlecruiser: _**Venomous Fang**_

Davros watched the planet Ankus spin slowly from the bridge of his flagship. "Has there been any sign of the _Mangle_?"

The captain of the ship reported a negative. None of the scout ships could find any trace of the _Mangle_ in the backwater system.

Davros would have snorted in frustration but he restrained out of the decorum required of his post and instead went over what they knew. He knew that the _Mangle_ had been in the system as records of its presence recorded by the local spaceport existed. However Darkel had not shared any information as to why he was in the system, nor even announced his presence to the local authority, and the spaceport's records were incomplete "Due to twitchy system upgrades the sensors and computers were undergoing at the time." The admiral had barely managed to suppress an unbecoming snort of disbelief when he had been fed that lie.

Public spaceports required that any and all ships fill out various papers such as cargo manifests and passenger lists for both incoming and outgoing trips as well as forms for activities like maintenance or refueling. However those were done to make sure the proper people got the appropriate bill. Private spaceports, such as the TaggCo run facility on Ankus, had to follow similar procedures, but they were notorious for providing far less details to ensure the 'privacy' of their customers. And the lack of proper documentation, even from public facilities, only got worse on world's that were more remote or were known to have major connections with the criminal underworld.

It was more likely that the local TaggeCo officials were entertaining some of their less reputable cliental at the time and wanted to make sure their visit was discreet.

But this knowledge did not prevent Davros from threatening port control to hand over all the data they had. He would search for any clue he could find that he could use to explain the disappearance of the ship to the Admiralty so that the entirety of the blame would be placed on Darkel. Without a valid explanation it was likely that he would be the one who was blamed.

But then he considered, the only possible way for the spaceport to have not noticed the disappearance of a Star Destroyer was if the crew, at the behest of the ship's master, was not using standard procedure and were actively trying to hide the ship. Darkel didn't have the authority to officially circumvent procedure, and it provided a nice plausible theory.

The only other explanation would be if those in charge of Ankus were covering up something.

"Sir," called an ensign at the communications console, "I am picking up a transmission from the planet's surface that is using Imperial naval encryptions."

Davros cocked en eyebrow. "Really," he murmured. "Captain, find the source of that transmission and bring the individual responsible in for interrogation. I will be waiting in my quarters for the report."

As it turned out, Davros didn't have to wait long. The majority of official, and many unofficial, HoloNet transceivers were strictly controlled by the Empire so a simple check of the logs showed that it was some minor TaggCo administrative aide. Of course troops were sent to his home in order to pick him up and escort him to a shuttle that would bring him up to the battlecruiser. Within a few hours the man was sitting 'comfortably' within one of the interrogation cells with some men that probably enjoyed their work a little _too_ much.

Needless to say, the man sang like a bird. The tune was interesting but not very long. According to the report handed to Davros after the interrogation was finished, the aide had sent out information about a Rebel meeting and was answered by Darkel. The aide did not know who orchestrated the meeting or who would be participating, but he did know the landing bay the rebel's ship would be berthed. So Darkel used the aide to find a dockworker that would slip in a virus that would hide and transmit any hyperspace coordinates right before a jump.

The aide, being as opportunistic as he was, had altered the virus while it was in his custody and added some additional code that would send a second transmission to himself.

That was the data that Davros was looking over, the coordinates of the hyperspace jump. He tried matching them up with all of the coordinates in the _Venomous Fang's_ database and he did not like the results. '_A hyperspace jump leading straight into the Unknown Regions? That's practically suicidal._' Yet the coordinates didn't lie, and the calculations to get to the final destination seemed sound. But the thought that someone had managed to discover a route past that hyperspace anomaly ridden region of space that separated the Unknown Regions from the civilized portion of the galaxy controlled by the Empire was practically preposterous.

However it could be a valuable piece of information about the rebels, a possible trap they designed to destroy pursuing vessels. Or it could be some desperate attempt at escape that likely led to the destruction of both the Rebels and the _Mangle_. Further investigation was required.

"Lieutenant," he said to the aide patiently waiting for orders, "Inform the captain that our probe droids are to be modified to communicate with each other via subspace radio and then launched to these coordinates along the calculated route with one stopping every 25 light-years once they pass the border region, with adjusted calculations to compensate for the elapsed time. When that is done we will remain here until the droids' reports come in. Oh, and the aide in interrogation is to be executed. I'm sure the only reason he was aware of the rebels is because of some connection to a smuggling organization."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Planet: Earth

System: Sol

Sector: Not Applicable

Grid Coordinates: H-7

Region: Unknown Regions

Date: CE 75

Leia was curious as to why the President of the Atlantic Federation had requested an audience with her. It was the day after the negotiations and based on current estimations just two more days before the _Tantive IV_ would be ready to leave dry-dock, and Earth's leaders were still in the process of selecting the few who would participate in the coming reconnaissance mission.

She wasn't particularly nervous. Why should she be? The Sol Council had made its decision regarding the rest of the galaxy, including Leia and the _Tantive's_ crew. It was now just a matter of letting them see what the Empire is like and what the Alliance is fighting for.

She was however curious as to why the AF President would request her presence for a private audience. Was it just to be a simple meeting to get to know each other or was there something more? Because of the fragmented nature of the planet, no single nation could take action for or against her without facing repercussions from the others, and she had little doubt that President White was under considerable scrutiny after his proposal to use the greatest weapons Earth's technology had ever created.

She was brought to the Atlantic Federation embassy and was escorted to the president's suite, only just noticing the lightly armed guards. She was more interested in the music that was emanating from behind the doors. She was let in to a rather lovely suite that reminded her somewhat of one of the relaxation social rooms used for after party conversation at the Alderaanian palace. And George White stood at the far end of the room staring out a large window to the city beyond.

White had noticed her entry and turned to her with a smile. "Princess, please come in. If you'd like, I have some excellent wine for refreshment."

Leia accepted the wine and thanked him both for the wine and inviting her. As she sipped the wine, noticing it was a bit tarter than her favorite Alderaanian wine, she took an appreciative glance out to the city, the Earth, and stars shining in the 'night' sky above the city. It was an amazing sight, made more so by the knowledge of how difficult and painstaking it must have been to for the people of Earth to simulate their home planet so thoroughly, even managing to almost simulate the stronger gravity perfectly, with their level of technology.

As a diplomat's daughter Leia had visited many planets, moons, and artificial satellites throughout the galaxy and had detailed knowledge of hundreds more. She was aware that this lunar city was not entirely unique. There were probably hundreds of similar installations on various moons and asteroids across the galaxy, but many of those were the private getaways of the rich and powerful, and those that weren't were designed for tourists.

And orbital stations were a decicred a dozen serving as refueling stations, trading outposts, large starship construction and repair docks, even orbital cities such as what the Duros constructed when their home planet became uninhabitable. But those facilities were all very utilitarian in design and purpose with little in the way of wide open spaces or plant life, aside from designated greenhouses and agriculture centers. They were nothing like this open and welcoming city where plants grew in abundance for both the pleasure of their presence and as an air reclamation system.

"A beautiful sight," said White, speaking Leia's thoughts. "I don't know if it compares to anything out where you're from, but I'd like to think that this moon, this planet, is a real gem."

"Don't sell yourself short, Mr. President. You'd be hard pressed to find a creation such as this city no matter what part of the galaxy you venture into. Some would say that this city is a work of art. But I don't think that you asked me here for my opinion of the view."

"Heh, I knew you were a sharp one, princess, but I didn't expect you to be blunt around other politicians."

"It all depends on whom I am speaking to. At the Senate I wouldn't be, but I have already shared some of my most guarded secrets, secrets the Empire would torture and kill me for. So what do I have to worry about being a little blunt in my speech here?"

"Nothing, I suppose. As for why I asked you here, well I better wait for my other guest to arrive. He's running a little late and should have been here by now." As if summoned by the young politician the door opened and an elderly man walked in as if he owned the suites. "But there he is now. Hello, Aeolia, what kept you?"

"We were running a live-fire test with one of the rebuilt weapons. There was some sort of malfunction and it exploded. It was contained and thankfully those exposed walked away with only minor injuries. But aren't you forgetting your manners, young man? A proper introduction needs to be made."

Not many people could get away with admonishing the leader of a nation as powerful as the Atlantic Federation about a breach of etiquette, but Aeolia Schenberg was one of them.

"Sorry, Aeolia, this is Princess Leia Organa, member of the Imperial Senate and spy for the Alliance to restore the Republic. Princess Leia, this is Aeolia Schenberg, founder and head researcher of Anaheim Electronics. And to answer your earlier question about why you are here, Aeolia asked me to set up a meeting between the two of you so that you may discuss business."

"Business?" asked Leia, "What type of business? You can't mean some sort of trade after the Council made the decree that no one could make such interactions beyond the need to repair my ship."

"It's true that the Council did forbid trade until a final decision was made," said Aeolia. "However the Council only has power of authority over the governments of member nations and those institutions they control or fund. A privately owned and operated group such as Anaheim Electronics is, aside from some guidelines, beyond their control, thus I am well within my legal ability to negotiate with you."

Excitement grew within Leia to such a degree that she set down her glass so as to not give away the fact that her hands were trembling slightly. This was more then she had hoped for, the chance to have technology that the Empire was completely unaware of, an advantage the Rebels never had before. Yes, it would have been nice to be able to join the entirety of Earth's resources to the cause, but this would be enough for now. And she would just make sure that the representatives joining the _Tantive IV_ would leave with a favorable image of the Alliance's stance in the galaxy. But she couldn't lose her head over this.

"This willingness and ability to offer trade is tempting, Mr. Schenberg. But I assume that while the Sol Council has no direct authority over you, they have implied authority, at least in a matter such as this. And I can't help but wonder what sort of benefits the Atlantic Federation gets out of this deal," said Leia as she turned her eyes on her fellow politician.

White raised his hands as if in surrender, "I assure you, Princess, I am not attempting some sort of arms race with this deal. Anaheim Electronics is a multi-national organization with facilities in 7 of the eleven nations of the Sol Council. Also while the Council has no direct authority over it, there were certain laws instituted by every nation. Laws created to act as deterrents to another war. One such law is that when any new technology that falls within a preset list of criteria is developed by any organization, whether in the public or private sector, it must be made available on an open market. Meaning that while anything Anaheim Electronics built with your technology could be patented it would have to be publically declared and made available to all potential buyers. The consequences for not abiding by this law can be quite dire."

But that answer did quite satisfy Leia. "It still seems strange that you would be a part of this secret deal, President White, considering what you proposed during the negotiations."

"I am simply doing what I can to facilitate the advance of a relationship between Earth and the Alliance. But I do have an ulterior motive, the desire that my actions can restore the Atlantic Federation to what it once was, before the likes of Logos interfered. And while I can't say that I know for sure whether or not you're telling the truth, the evidence does support you, and I am willing to take the risk that you are being honest. Though to do so in an open political environment would have been a disaster."

Now Leia understood. White couldn't have initiated this sort of action openly, and neither could any other of the political leaders, with a group they know so little about. On this planet that would have been politically bad. But he could use the law to get her in touch with someone that had no such political constraints. "Very well then, Mr. Schenberg, how shall we begin?"

Aeolia walked over to one of the table's that held a small device on it. Pressing a button a screen slid out of the top of the machine, which was soon filled with a changing image of various schematics.

"This computer contains the technical information of five mobile suits; the ZGMF-1017 GINN, ZGMF-515 CGUE, GAT-01 Strike Dagger, GAT-01A1 Dagger, and the GAT-01A2 Slaughter Dagger. Aside from the mobile suits' frame design and OS, the computer also contains files on their armor's alloy composition, propulsion methods, and defensive technologies, such as the anti-beam coating on mobile suit shields and the laminated armor used in the Dagger models. There are also files on how to construct the various weapons such as the assault rifle, missile pods, GINN sword, beam rifle, beam sub-machine gun, and beam saber and just about any other equipment these machines can use."

"An impressive amount of data you're willing to trade," commented Leia. "I notice that, with one exception, there doesn't seem to be any of the machines that took down the Star Destroyer, nor any others I have recently seen. Why is that?"

"That's because these are older models with the most basic of our mobile suit technologies," answered Aeolia. "We have many more mobile suits that are environment and situation specific, and numerous models that contain more advanced technology. President White and I agreed it would be too much to present that on the table in the first round."

"I understand," said Leia. "And what would you like in return?"

"The first item we would like is similar technical schematics for your ship. Specifically we are interested in your engines, power reactors, inertial compensators, artificial gravity generation, energy shields, and magcon fields. The second item is any records aboard your ship that concerns the galaxy, any files on flora and fauna, whether sentient or not, and information on any political organizations. The third and final item is any information for medical technology you possess aboard your ship."

Leia didn't even hesitate before agreeing to the terms. "I will have my protocol droid begin translating the information into your writing system. And as a gesture of good faith, I will also have Threepio include translations for the twenty most common languages after Basic." They really weren't asking much. The sum total of all of the technology and information that the Alliance had to offer was a hundred times greater than the contents of a single corvette or two ships if you counted the disabled Star Destroyer.

()()()()()()()

Planet: Ankus

System: Ankus

Sector: Freestanding Subsectors

Oversector: Not Applicable, Just Galactic West Bright Jewel Oversector

Grid Coordinates: I-7

Region: Mid Rim

Date: 34:2

Praetor II Battlecruiser: _**Venomous Fang**_

Davros was just about to sit down to his evening meal in his private quarters when a tone indicated that someone desired entry to his quarters. "This had better be important," the admiral stated at the entering lieutenant in irritation for interrupting his meal.

"Sorry for the disturbance, sir, but you asked for the data from the probe droids as soon as we received and analyzed it."

Davros cocked an eyebrow. "Already? We only sent the droids out yesterday."

"Yes sir, the reason is that a considerable number of droids were stopped roughly half-way to the end point designated by the coordinates."

The lieutenant entered a command into his datapad that activated the Admiral's private holo-projector, bringing up an image from the ship's computer. The image showed a basic galactic map of the space and stars of the area from Ankus to the original system that the coordinates indicated. A red line than appeared, outlining the path of the droids.

"All of the droids up to number 143 stopped at their appointed checkpoints. Their initial findings indicate that the path is clear and safe. Although scouts and astrocartographers will have to investigate the path before it can get Imperial approval as an open and safe hyperspace route."

"We're not concerned with opening a new hyperspace route. Our only concern is for what is at the end and if we can get there safely. What of the droids after 143?"

"Those droids were stopped after entering this cluster of stars," the map zoomed in on a group of a dozen or so stars with the droids' red path ending at the star in the center. "There they encountered a mass shadow, and exited as per safety protocols. As with the others, once they were in-system they began transmitting data, however…"

"However what?"

The lieutenant entered another command that switched the image over to a different image. This one was a still image that was admittedly very poor in quality, so poor that Davros wasn't sure what it was. "This is an image from one of the droids. All the images are similar to this in quality and lasted at best a few seconds before dissolving into static. Our analysts suspect the poor quality is caused by degradation from having the signal pass through so many relays, but they aren't ruling out jamming that is natural or artificial. If it is the artificial jamming, then it would mean whoever is behind it must have been doing it over a vast swath of space around the planet, and the expense of doing such without good reason leads us to believe it's probably the former."

"This is the best you have?" asked the admiral.

"It is the best natural image, sir. During analyses, all of the images were cleaned up and compiled together into one image. Its quality is considerably higher." The holo-projector changed images again, showing a still somewhat fuzzy picture of a blue planetoid with what may have been a moon in the distance. Closer to the viewpoint of the image was a large grey, fuzzy triangle that looked quite familiar to the admiral.

"Is that…?"

"We believe it is the _Mangle_, sir. Also the sensors detected indications that there had been recent ship activity beyond the _Mangle_. We can't confirm due to signal quality but we are over 95 percent sure of our findings."

"Rebel ships?"

"We can't verify it but it would be a logical guess considering who the _Mangle_ was chasing."

Davros thought about the information for a few seconds. Then he asked, "This route is safe, yes?"

"To the best of our knowledge it is. A probe droid's sensors aren't exactly designed for this but they are sophisticated enough to pick out any major dangers."

"Good," said Davros as he typed something into his datapad. Once he was finished he removed a datacard and gave it to his subordinate. "I'm giving you a list of ships and their captains. I want them here as soon as possible, prepared for a fleet action. We will be going to the planet to deal with any rebels and to retrieve the _Mangle_."

"Very good sir."

The lieutenant saluted, turned, and left, leaving the admiral to return to his dinner, which had grown cold. '_I'll have to think up a punishment for him after everything has been taken care of,_' he thought as he called his personal chef to prepare him a fresh dinner.

()()()()()()()

Planet: Earth

System: Sol

Sector: Not Applicable

Grid Coordinates: H-7

Region: Unknown Regions

Date: CE 75

Leia spent another two local hours at the president's suite. Some of the time was spent working out a few minor details of how to get their respective items of information to the other, and as well as getting a better feel for the partners involved in the deal.

But most of it was simply to give the appearance that she was simply a dinner guest. And she did have dinner with the two, a type of local fowl called a duck marinated in a type of fruit sauce.

As she and her escorts, both her own and those provided by the council, walked back to her own hotel she felt very good about the day.

Suddenly she felt something. A sensation in the back of her head not unlike what she felt at the negotiations. Leia stopped walking and turned to look behind her. She had a feeling that there was something behind her. And there was, or rather someone.

Kira Yamato stood there, wearing normal civilian attire rather than the military uniform he wore the last time Leia had seen him.

"Good evening, Princess Organa," he greeted warmly. "I was hoping that if you could spare a few moments, you wouldn't mind taking a quick walk with me." Kira said indicating a park that was conveniently nearby. "Lacus is waiting in there and would like to speak with you."

'_Privately meeting with two world leaders in one day? Should I find this fortuitous or troubling?_' "I'd love to," said Leia, not seeing any harm in the activity.

The guards kept a respectful distance as the diplomat and pilot quietly strolled into the park, though a short way into it Leia noticed that Kira seemed unusually interested in her face, staring at her from the corner of his eye.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Yamato?"

"Ah, sorry," Kira said in apology, his face slightly red from the embarrassment of being caught. "Call me Kira, and I'm sorry for staring. It's just that I'm having some trouble getting used to…"

"Getting used to the fact that the first group of living aliens to make contact with your people is comprised of mostly humans," Leia finished for him. "Am I right, Kira?"

"Well yes." Responded Kira simply. "The Whale Stone brought back from Jupiter proved that life exists beyond our planet. I just don't think anyone suspected that there would be human life."

Leia couldn't help but smile in amusement. Conversations like this were one of the more enjoyable aspects of her duties. "I've seen a picture of that Whale Stone. Believe it or not, it bears a striking resemblance to a thranta, a domesticated animal species from my home world."

"Really? That must have surprised you when you saw it."

"Yes, but I am used to surprises like that. The galaxy is a big place, with a long and complicated history. No matter how often or how far you travel, you are sure to see and experience things that are both unexpected and familiar."

As if to prove her point on the unexpected, a small, green, robotic bird suddenly flew up right into Leia's face, giving the princess a start, stopping her in her tracks.

"Birdy?" inquired the little robot as it tilted its head, as real birds tend to do when they are examining something, as if it was wondering what Leia was. The bird's examination lasted only a moment before it seemed to make its choice about the princess before it flew up and landed atop her head, hopping in place until it was settled on its new perch.

Leia's eyes rolled up, trying to see the small robot that was roosting on her head and Kira couldn't help but to laugh at the antics of his mechanical pet.

"Sorry about that," Kira said in apology, though it was difficult to determine his sincerity behind that amused smile and his efforts to stifle more laughs.

"What is this?" asked Leia as she attempted to get the bird off her head, only for it to keep hopping out of the way of her hand.

"Birdy, Birdy!" it cried in protest.

Kira couldn't help but let out a few more laughs. "That's Birdy. He's kind of a pet that a friend built for me." Reaching out with his hand, Kira got Birdy to switch over to the more willing perch.

Leia gave the mechanical bird a quick study, already classifying it as a true droid in her mind. "It's a clever piece of engineering. You don't have repulsorlift technology and it can still fly. And it seems amusing enough, when it's not trying to roost in your hair."

"Birdy!"

Again Kira chuckled again after Birdy made its indignation at Leia's comment known, even though it didn't have the processing power to simulate such emotion. "If you like Birdy, you'll love what he made for Lacus."

"What did he—?" before she could finish the question something small, round, and pink hopped in front of her face.

"Hello, hello!" greeted the infamous Mr. Pink as it bounced in front of Leia's face, using its mechanical flaps to achieve flight for several seconds before it fell back to the ground, bounced, and rolled back the way it came.

Again Leia paused and blinked in surprise at the interruption, not quite sure what to make of the pink thing.

Fortunately, Kira had gotten all of the laughter out of his system so he was prepared to explain it. "That was one of Lacus's Haros. She usually brings Mr. Pink with her wherever she goes. If it's here than she should be close by."

Indeed Lacus wasn't more than twenty feet away, sitting on a park bench hidden by trees and listening to the babble of Haro. She was giggling at something Haro had said when she finally noticed the two. She looked at the two with her usual demure smile. "Hello, Kira," she said immediately, walking up to the young man.

The two gave each other a quick hug and kiss, after which Lacus focused her attention on Leia. "Hello, Princess Leia. I hope you had a good evening with President White and Mr. Schenberg. Tell me, was it profitable?" She asked while extending her hand.

Leia grasped Lacus' hand in greeting, a hand that looked petite and held her own gently yet still felt stronger than it looked, in what she knew was a customary greeting. But it wasn't Lacus' hand that Leia was thinking about; it was how Lacus used the word profitable.

"Yes, I did have a good and profitable evening," Leia admitted somewhat carefully. "Right now I am trying to decide if I should be surprised that you already know or not."

"Neither gentleman intended to keep the matter secret," said Lacus as she sat back down, patting the seat beside her in invitation to Leia who accepted. "Mr. Schenberg is a large supporter of Terminal, which is the organization from which we selected your escorts. All of my counterparts are aware of the deal they intended to offer. Most of them consider it a risky venture for the reasons stated at the negotiations. However, I don't feel there's any risk at all."

"Oh, you don't believe that I and the people I work for won't use your technology to develop an army with which to conquer your planet?"

"Nope," said Lacus. "And that's because I trust Kira who is an exceptional judge of character, or at least he has come to be."

Leia spared a brief glance to the young man, reminded of the unusual mental sensation that she always felt when near him, even now.

"However," continued Lacus, "as important as that meeting was, it is not what I wish to discuss." She held out her hand and Kira gave her a folder. "A short while ago, a number of objects appeared within a thousand kilometers of where your ship and the imperial ship first appeared. When contact was made with one it exploded, which is believed to have been a self-destruct. I assume you're familiar with them."

Leia was given several flimsiplast sheets with pictures on them depicting numerous objects floating in space. It took Leia a moment to work out the details of their features but when she did she recognized them.

"Viper probe droids," concern heavily laced in her voice. "These are a type of scouting droids used by the Empire that can travel through hyperspace and transmit their findings back to the ship that launched them. Someone in the Empire is looking for us, and it would seem that they found us."

Both Kira and Lacus visibly frowned. "I was afraid you would say something like that."

"But there is some hope, however," continued Leia. "My people have been unable to contact the outside galaxy. Something is messing with our HoloNet system. It could also interfere with those probe droids' own superluminal communications system."

"That's a big if to bet on," Kira pointed out. "And even if the probe droids haven't managed to send something out, we should make our move on the assumption that they know where we are."

"There could still be some hope," said Leia as she handed back the photos. "The Empire is a massive organization, and sometimes the ambitions of one will leave the rest uninformed. The information could have been stopped after it reached an individual who wished to use it to their advantage, even if it had reached an admiral. The Emperor is known to award those who show initiative in successfully carrying out standing orders. Destroying an enemy force would fall into that category for an admiral." Leia paused and considered the possibilities. "Either way this is not a good situation. I need to get back to Alderaan, get in touch with my people, and begin damage control. If luck is on our side, the situation can be salvaged to protect both your world and the Alliance."

This could be considered good news but Lacus still frowned as she considered all that was being said. "In the end, though, you're still telling us to expect another war," she said dejectedly.

"I'm sorry," said Leia sincerely. "It's because of us coming to your system that you have become involved."

"What's done is done," said Lacus. "All that we can do now is to prepare for the future. A future filled with more war. I just wish that there were other options besides fighting."

Kira came up behind Lacus and gently took her in his arms. "It's OK, Lacus. We'll try any solution we can think of to prevent the fighting. As long as we sincerely try for peace… But we must prepare for battle." Kira turned his head to look at Leia. "Princess, can your people provide us with tactical data of the likely composition of an enemy fleet, as well as data on where they will likely appear? Can you tell us if they are likely to use nuclear weapons and what defenses they have prepared for such attacks?"

"Kira!" Exclaimed Lacus in shock, instantly aware of what Kira was thinking. "We can't!"

"We may not have a choice, Lacus. More than half of the Earth Sphere's mobile suits were destroyed in the war and since its end only a small number of new ones were built, and there have been fewer new warships. If the Empire does come here to fight, like President White said it will be my first duty to protect everyone, using all available resources, even those."

Lacus wanted to protest but when she considered the reported strength that this Empire wielded, 25,000 mile-long warships with a thousand times that number in smaller warships and support vessels, not even she could deny such logic. Though she detested the thought of resorting to such weapons, she was a woman willing to fight to protect peace.

For her part, Leia was trying her best to recall some of the knowledge about military equipment that she hopefully knew. "It will be impossible to tell the size or composition of an Imperial assault force without prior data. It will be based on whatever the commander feels is needed. I can tell you that most Admirals prefer to have at least four lines of battle for fleet actions, each line being composed of several smaller ships or one _Imperial_ Star Destroyer. Then there will be the combat support ships for each battle line. They will have a variety of nuclear weapons but the Empire favors the use of turbolasers. As for the rest of the data I'll need to go back to my ship to prepare and consult with Antilles. He has more combat experience."

"Thank you," said Kira. "We'll ensure that the representatives and your ship will be ready to go soon."

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Planet: Earth

System: Sol

Sector: Not Applicable

Grid Coordinates: H-7

Region: Unknown Regions

Date: CE 75

Star Destroyer _Mangle_

Tristan was sitting in his cabin. His rank didn't grant private quarters but his roommates were out on duty allowing him the time to use the cabin to hold a meeting. A meeting to discuss a recent development in the plans for mutiny that Tristan had pretty much become the organizer and leader of.

Though considering the new development, the mutiny may not have to take place.

"So a large number of probe droids have appeared in-system," he muttered to himself as he looked over the data on the datapad. "Were they able to send any signal out?" He asked of the warrant officer who worked communications.

"Not that I know of sir. Because of the nature of probe droids they have a rather unique set of transmitters that make it harder to detect any signals they send. At the very least a single probe droid has a better chance of getting something out-system than we have with our shoddily repaired systems."

"Either way their presence is a boon for us," said Tristan as he analyzed the situation. "Someone out there knows of this location."

"But if they don't get anything from the droids they won't come," said the third individual to attend this update meeting, an army captain in charge of the platoon sergeants aboard the ship. "They'll think they were destroyed."

"They could send a follow up team," countered the warrant officer. "And it wouldn't be too long after that a rescue would be mounted."

The captain was about to bark out a response but Tristan raised a hand for silence.

"The droids may have gotten a signal out-system or they might not have. There may be some form of rescue attempt, there might not. Either way for the good of the crew we have to operate under the assumption that the situation is still the same. Captain, have you determined the security situation?"

"Yeah, according to my men that play sabacc with the ship's security personal they're only going to follow the guys in charge. However most of the ground troops dislike the current situation and their feelings are starting to boil over. The ship isn't carrying a full complement of ground troops but we certainly outnumber security. Once the preparations are complete we can take this ship anytime."

"Good, if that's all than this meeting is adjourned. Tell the others in your department to stick to the plan and keep an ear to the assigned comm. channel in case there's an emergency. I'll make sure to inform the other officers involved."

()()()()()

Planet: Ankus

System: Ankus

Sector: Freestanding Subsectors

Oversector: Not Applicable, Just Galactic West Bright Jewel Oversector

Grid Coordinates: I-7

Region: Mid Rim

Date: 34:2

Praetor II Battlecruiser: _Venomous Fang_

Admiral Davros gazed out the bridge viewport, studying the sight before him. Seemingly sitting completely still out in space, visible from the bridge of the _Venomous Fang_ were a single Dreadnought heavy cruiser, and a Nebulon-B frigate. Davros also knew that in addition to these two ships there were two Acclamator I-assault cruisers, another Nebulon-B frigate, four Marauder corvettes, and finally three Charger refitted Consular corvettes.

Davros was not particularly happy with the selection of ships, since with the exception of the Nebulon-Bs they were all from the Clone Wars if not older. However, after studying what ships were used in the local forces of the area he knew that these ships were the only ones available for his operation and for the sake of speed had to forgo the ability to call upon any Star Destroyers.

'_Still,_' he thought, '_I suppose it does not make much difference. My battlecruiser will be the main combatant and they are just here to support it, making sure the rebels can't run from me. And at least I have my Acclamators._'

Though not commonly used in the modern Imperial Navy that favored keeping its large ships in space while assault shuttles transported troops, the Acclamators would allow him to rapidly deploy his troops on the ground. To that end he had almost the entirety of the three army battlegroups and stormtrooper legion his flagship carried transferred to the Acclamators along with their ground support vehicles, leaving only 300 troops aboard the ship for security purposes.

Already he had a basic battle plan formed and relayed to the fleet commanders. It was a simple one that can be easily adapted to changing situations.

Finally word came from the group of scout ships sent to scout the hyperspace route up to the first rendezvous point. These scouts would blaze the trail for the squadron up to the final leg of the trip, ensuring the route was safe. It would take a little longer but it was for the best. After all it was far less embarrassing to lose a few shuttles to a hyperspace related accident than to lose an entire fleet.

With a quick nod of conformation to communications he ordered the formation of 13 ships to move out.

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**Imperial "Ankus Hunt" Squadron Overview:**

The "Ankus Hunt" squadron is an impromptu capital ship squadron formed under the command of Admiral Davros as part of a mission to track down the missing VSD _Mangle_ and destroy any pirates or rebels they encounter.

At the heart of this squadron is the _Venomous Fang_, the Praetor II Battlecruiser that serves as Davros's flagship. One of the few battlecruisers in service with the Empire, Davros takes great pride in her power such that he is skeptical and dismissive of any claim that a "rag-tag" group of rebels could threaten her. Because of this pride he uses her as the hammer that shatters the enemy into pieces that will be caught by the net formed from supporting capital ships. As such when assembling the squadron he sought ships that could reach his position quickly as opposed to waiting for any warships that could provide substantial fire support.

Having chosen to draw on nearby local forces, from planets such as Rago and Ansion that reside in what is considered a remote and backwater region of the Empire, Davros had to make due with older ships, all of which were as old as the first year of the Clone Wars with the exception of the two Nebulon-B escort frigates. With few exceptions each ship under his command is staffed with only the minimal crew required and is generally in only moderate condition and repair. Again with few exceptions the crews have all graduated from third-rate local system naval academies as opposed to highly accredited academies such as Anaxes.

Their starfighter support is in similar condition, being composed of a motely group of Z-95 Headhunters, CloakShape fighters, Dagger-class fighters, Drexl-class starfighters, Pinook-class fighters, and SoroSuub Planetary Defender fighters that all predate the Clone Wars.

While considered sufficient for protecting remote regions of little value, most in the Empire would believe that Davros was scrapping the bottom of the barrel of personnel and ships. Davros would just say that they are support and his flagship would do the real work.


	4. Chapter 4

**Growth of a Seed**

"Speaking"

"_Radio_"

'_Thoughts_'

**Location**

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**Author's Notes**

Below is a list of ships from the Imperials so that when I reference one by name the reader will know what I am referring to.

RagoGS – Charger c70 Consular class Corvette

RagoGS II – Charger c70 Consular class Corvette

Monitor IV – Charger c70 Consular class Corvette

Picket – Marauder class Corvette

Quillion II - Marauder class Corvette

Farstar - Marauder class Corvette

Picket II - Marauder class Corvette

Retsub – EF76 Nebulon-B Escort Frigate

Compton – EF76 Nebulon-B Escort Frigate

Star Guard – Dreadnought class Heavy Cruiser

Annealer II – Acclamator I Assault Cruiser

Doneeta – Acclamator I Assault Cruiser

144 TIE/ln Starfighters

36 TIE/sa Bombers

48 Various Non-TIE model Starfighters

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**Chapter 4**

**Planet: Earth**

**System: Sol**

**Sector: Not Applicable**

**Grid Coordinates: H-7**

**Region: Unknown Regions**

**Date: CE 75**

**Corellian Corvette **_**Tantive IV**_

**Two Days Post Probe Droid Incursion**

The _Tantive IV_ was currently flying above the surface of the moon several kilometers out from Copernicus City. Aboard the rebel ship, the crew was going through diagnostics of the engines to ensure they were ready to head out the following local day. Currently, everything seemed to be going just fine with the Earth-made parts and they were on schedule, so they were heading back into dock. All in all, Antilles thought it was a good day.

Until the sensor officer spoke.

"Sir, I'm picking up Imperial ID beacons! Thirteen military ships have just appeared in-system!"

Antilles felt like growling in frustration at their luck, but being the professional soldier he kept his personal opinion in check and began considering options. '_Thirteen ships, that's squadron size, not as bad as it could have been._' "Sensors, are they on a line-of-sight angle?"

"Yes sir, but the moon's luminosity and proximity should keep us hidden for the time being. The Imperial ships came out of hyperspace further away from the planet then anticipated but still on the estimated entry vector and are currently decelerating. At their current rate they'll be here at the moon in five hours. I am trying to use sensors to determine ship composition, just need a few more seconds…got it." After acquiring the information the crewman looked over it and became visibly startled by the information. "Sir, sensors read that the composition of the ships includes seven corvettes, two frigates, and three cruisers under Victory-class size."

'_That's not so bad,_' thought Antilles. '_The corvettes will have comparable firepower to the Earth ships but an edge in speed and defense. The frigates and cruisers will be more troublesome but as long as the Earth forces utilize their numerical advantage they can win._' Then his brain counted the ships and found that the number he came to was 12. "Wait, what about the last ship?"

"The last ship," the sensor operator gulped, "is a Praetor II Battlecruiser."

Antilles's muscles jolted at the name.

From his station at the helm Ceda could be heard whispering in fear, "A mark II Praetor? That thing must out-mass all the other ships put together." Similar awed/fearful reactions were occurring throughout the crew on the bridge. Despite their extensive travels through the galaxy and their familiarity with Imperial warships, none of them had ever laid eyes on a Praetor II, but they heard of them. Three times the size of an Imperial Star Destroyer with a similar increase in firepower the battlecruisers were rare sights because even the Empire was cautionary about mass producing such expensive ships when smaller Star Destroyers proved sufficient for most of their needs. But there was little doubt that where a battlecruiser went, destruction followed.

Antilles considered the options for the ship and immediately shoved any that involved direct combat into a secondary list. The _Tantive IV_ was a diplomatic ship and retained only two duel turbolaser cannons and four mock laser cannons for defense. The turbolasers packed a modest punch and had a fast enough tracking system to be a threat to starfighters while the mock laser cannons were to increase their danger profile and make the likes of pirates think twice about attacking the corvette. Antilles had little doubt that any of the Empire's corvettes alone would be more heavily armed, so fighting would be dangerous, but not impossible.

He completely discarded any option of running. First, because the princess was still in the city and by the time they picked her up the Imperials would be too far in-system to escape. Second, it would make them look very bad to the people of Earth.

That left only one viable option where they could be useful at this point in time.

"Get us back to the city ASAP! And get as much information about the Imperials' ship composition! We have to provide as much information as possible on what those ships can do and possible weaknesses to be exploited!"

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**Planet: Earth**

**System: Sol**

**Sector: Not Applicable**

**Grid Coordinates: H-7**

**Region: Unknown Regions**

**Date: CE 75**

**Support Ship **_**Eternal**_

Kira walked onto the bridge of the _Eternal_, where he was greeted by the ship's captain, Andrew Waltfeld, who was standing over a newly installed holographic tactical board.

"Hey, kid," greeted the senior officer in his usual relaxed manner as he sipped some coffee. "What are you doing up here? I'd thought you'd be on the moon with Lacus." He took a small sip and smiled appreciatively, "Mmm, this is some good coffee."

"I would prefer being back on the moon," said Kira, "but because of the recent development everyone's been put on alert. Didn't you get the orders?"

"Of course I did kid; I even received the data on current ship positions and mobile suit strength. I just figured that with Lacus being the Supreme Chairwoman and you being in charge of her security…" Waltfeld let the thought trail off. He didn't need to say anymore, and it would have been reasonable for Kira to stay with her.

"Security in Copernicus City is as tight as it's ever been, so Lacus should be safe there without me. We decided that my skills would be of better use aboard the Freedom. Now what's the situation?"

Andy put down his cup and called up a presentation he already prepared that showed the information he had just received.

"Since the arrival of our first visitors, most military forces here in space began moving. Currently the three largest forces are the Eurasians at Artemis base, ZAFT at the Solomon asteroid base that was built during Durandal's administration, and finally the combination of the Atlantic Federation and Terminal forces here on the moon. After that everyone is pretty spread out. ZAFT has a fifth of their ships patrolling the entire Earth Sphere; Orb currently has four ships stationed here at Copernicus City with another seven at Ame-no-Mihashira; the Republic of East Asia and the South African Union are gathered at the L4 region where they've been trying to bring some of the abandoned colonies back online. The Atlantic Federation Space Forces are gathering its forces that are scattered around the moon to help concentrate defenses… for what it's worth."

"They got hit pretty hard in the last war didn't they, so what do they have left?"

"From their original number of fleets at the beginning of the first war, they have two remaining more or less intact with enough ships left over to form another half a fleet. To compensate for their losses and the restrictions placed on warship production they've been re-commissioning older ships that were taken out of active duty before the first war. They also reactivated all of the decommissioned Moebius armors. On the bright side they have put forward a rather interesting plan using the new AB gas that they are calling the 'Nebula Trap'. They've been preparing it ever since they first learned of the Imperials."

"What about the Terminal fleet?"

Andrew brought up new statistics. "Our forces are significant. Since the attack on Requiem our numbers have tripled thanks to volunteers and supplies donated from the other military forces. The biggest donator of course was President White, after his investigations turned up all of those secret LOGOS storehouses hiding all of those mothballed ships that were documented as destroyed from first war. They also provided a fair number of mobile suits, but kept some of the LOGOS equipment for themselves. In particular is one ship that has an important role in their 'Nebula Trap' plan.

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**Planet: Earth**

**System: Sol**

**Sector: Not Applicable**

**Grid Coordinates: H-7**

**Region: Unknown Regions**

**Date: CE 75**

**Praetor II Battlecruiser **_**Venomous Fang**_

The Imperial ships had dropped out of hyperspace and began deceleration at a rate that would allow them adequate time to get sensor readings of the system. After 15 minutes of scanning using long range sensors, Davros was confused as he gained an overview of the situation.

When preparing for this action, Davros had expected to find some backwater, sparsely populated (if not outright uninhabited) world, where the only source of technology and hyperdrive-equipped ships belonged to the rebels.

He also expected to find a number of military vessels such as starfighters, a few corvettes, frigates and maybe and old cruiser. The ships that he expected to find in the system he also expected would be aged and at best maintained to a "fair" condition, as was typical of most the equipment the Rebels used.

Because of the seeming communications blackout around the system and the successful elimination of an enemy ship, the rebels had no reason to evacuate till the probe droids entered in system. Given the amount of time that had passed, he suspected that the rebels would have been preparing either a second trap or, more likely, an evacuation that Davros's ships would have jumped into the middle of.

But that was not the situation he found. Preliminary scans had discovered hundreds of multi-kilometer long objects floating around the world that are distinctly artificial in nature, with each successive scan revealing more information such as how the largest objects were concentrated around three areas that basic mathematics said would be relatively stable gravitationally because of the interaction between the planet and its moon. As his assault force drew closer they could also detect energy sources emanating from the moon, and eventually energy patterns of ships. However the planet itself proved frustratingly impervious to scanning from a distance, requiring a closer inspection to learn anything about the surface.

'_This society is fairly well developed, but they've had no contact with the Empire. And if that analysis is right, their technology isn't up to our level. So any ship analogue won't be comparable. Considering what happened to the _Mangle_, which was likely the rebels' doing, I could begin an invasion. I'd set up a forward base, and then send a runner out for additional troops and supplies. However, the bureaucrats wouldn't be happy if I didn't at least try a diplomatic approach first. So I'll begin with talks and if it doesn't go the way I want, I'll take action. So I best prepare for a fight._'

"_Annealer_ and _Doneeta_, hold back to position Beta-436 with corvettes _Picket_,_ Quillian II_, and _Farstar_. General Ulic-Cuell, when the signal is given you may begin ground assault operations if you determine it is viable. _Star Guard_, _Picket II_, and _Monitor IV_ are to go over the planet's northern pole and maintain a geosynchronous position on the side opposite the moon. _Retsub_ and _RagoGS_ will go to position Alpha-298 to engage the constructs in that area and serve as a communications relay to the _Star Guard_. _Compton_ and _RagoGS II_ will perform similar duties in the region on the other side of the moon. Remember; do not engage until the signal is given unless fired upon.

As the ships broke formation to go to their assigned positions a report came in that several of the systems native ships, all ranging from corvette to light frigate in size, were approaching. The speed of their approach did not indicate an attack vector, though it was difficult to tell with unfamiliar designs.

"Launch a squadron of fighters to form a screen," ordered the Admiral. "As long as they maintain their distance ignore them. If not, shoot them out of space."

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**Planet: Earth**

**System: Sol**

**Sector: Not Applicable**

**Grid Coordinates: H-7**

**Region: Unknown Regions**

**Date: CE 75**

**Support Ship **_**Eternal**_

"They're splitting up," said Waltfeld as he went back to sipping his coffee while listening to the system wide alert. He took a look at the tactical board as new data was inputted and grinned. "It looks like each of the Imperial group is targeting one of our most heavily armed areas. They've also slowed down which makes maneuvering to meet our guests easier. All military forces have been ordered by their respective nations to intercept as per commanding officer's orders. Our target will be the big one."

"With the Sol Council assembled, they'll probably want Terminal to take command of the moon's defense," said Kira. He briefly scanned the tactical board before touching an icon representing a group of military ships which were currently the closest to where the new arrivals appeared. When the information came up, the name of one of the ships jumped out at him. "That's the ship Shinn's assigned to."

"Really?" asked Andy as he took a look at the info, noting that the ships were currently a part of the Terminal fleet. Their composition was made of two Nazca, an Agamemnon, two Nelsons, three Drakes, and the last ship was the _Diane_. A sister ship to the _Minerva_ that was never launched before the end of the war. "Yeah, it is. It's also the one Lunamaria is on."

After the second war both Gundam pilots volunteered their services to Terminal, and thanks to Lacus, they retained possession of their repaired mobile suits after the transfer. The two made a good team so they were kept together. "Think they'll keep to the directive?"

By "they" Waltfeld meant Shinn. The young man had matured by a considerable degree over the past year, but he still had something of a temper and though he tried to hide it Shinn had grown to enjoy the thrill of battle.

"Under these circumstances he'll follow orders not to engage," answered Kira. "But if they show signs of any hostile intentions he will respond."

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**Planet: Earth**

**System: Sol**

**Sector: Not Applicable**

**Grid Coordinates: H-7**

**Region: Unknown Regions**

**Date: CE 75**

**Minerva-class Battleship **_**Diane**_

Shinn growled in annoyance as he flew the Destiny back and forth between the imaginary borders that separated the Terminal taskforce from the one ship of the Imperial force that was heading to the moon, a monstrously huge ship that the new database identified as a Praetor II-class Battlecruiser.

Shinn's annoyance stemmed from a group those small ridiculous-looking mobile armors of theirs, those TIE Fighters that kept buzzing along the imaginary border to keep the Earth ships away.

There were only 12 of them and they kept flying around the battlecruiser in V-shape formations like birds. Though, personally, Shinn thought they looked more like a bunch of buzzing flies.

Shinn would have liked nothing more than to take his Arondight sword and slice the interlopers to pieces, but that would be going against direct orders.

"Man, this is annoying," he grumbled.

"_Well there's nothing we can do_," said Lunamaria as her Impulse slid up alongside the Destiny. "_As long as they don't initiate any hostile actions, we're not allowed to do anything that could lead to conflict._"

"Yeah, I know," replied Shinn. "Still, the waiting is really getting on my nerves. I mean what if that whole 'talk request' they're broadcasting is just a hoax to get close?" He asked in reference to the periodic repeating message that was being broadcast from the fleet in such a manner that just about anybody with any sort of receiving equipment could pick it up.

"_Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But it gives us time to gather the fleet, and if it is real, it may prevent a war._" Though that was what she said, there was no real conviction in Lunamaria's voice. In the time since the rebel ship had come into dry-dock; no one had tried to prevent the crew from mingling with the residents of Copernicus, though they were discreetly watched at all times. Because of that, word was spreading about this battle between the Empire and the Rebellion. And everyone was getting the distinct impression that any interaction involving those two organizations would get bloody and that anyone caught in the middle had to pick a side.

It was a situation no one liked, but at least the Rebels had been polite and were playing by Earth's rules. It was time to see if the Imperials would play ball.

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**Praetor II Battlecruiser **_**Venomous Fang**_

Hundreds of kilometers above the surface of the northern pole of Earth's single moon, a standoff was in progress. A standoff between dozens of Earth made ships across from a single massive Imperial battlecruiser with a mass that rivaled the entire Earth fleet.

Between the two forces, starfighters and mobile suits flew as interdiction barriers.

Aboard his flagship, Admiral Davros waited for the promised transmission from the leader of this world. As the appointed time drew near, his comm. officer spoke up.

"Sir, we are being hailed."

"Put it through."

The communications holo-projector lit up, the blue tinted light taking form, the form of a young woman. As Davros saw the hologram, his eyebrow rose in curiosity, wondering who this young woman could be.

"_Greetings, Admiral Davros, I am Chairwoman Lacus Clyne, the chosen representative to speak with you._"

Davros scowled as he answered, "What is this? I requested that this planet's leader be presented to me."

"_Our world has several leaders, Admiral, among whom I was selected to represent our world._"

Davros twitched as he tried to reign in his annoyance. "This is ridiculous. If you have multiple leaders than I demand to speak with whoever has seniority. I can't even imagine why someone like you would have been chosen in the first place."

_**Flashback**_

The world leaders had reconvened in the chambers of the Sol Council, hotly discussing the latest development. Namely the appearance of Imperial fleet led by a massive warship the likes of which none of them had ever conceived of, followed shortly by a transmission calling for opening dialogue.

They were trying to decide how to proceed with the Admiral's request to speak with the planet's leader. Should they go as a group or select one as a representative?

Eventually, President White turned to Princess Leia, who was present as a consultant and asked, "Have any suggestions, Princess?"

Leia didn't even need a moment to think before she explained, "The Admiral would probably respond best to whichever man here leads the strongest nation. I can't guarantee that he will respond with respect or courtesy, but that would be the sort of individual he will respond best to."

That came off a bit confusing so White asked her to elaborate on why it wouldn't simply be the leader of the strongest nation.

"I have told you of the Empire's High Human Culture doctrine, but the Imperial Navy has its own unofficial doctrine of discrimination against non-humans and women. They are not barred from the service but they are typically assigned to some of the least desirable posts and meet resistance with promotions. Only the best and most loyal can achieve any significant rank. I can't say anything about this Admiral's personal beliefs, but it is best to err on the side of caution. Also, many Imperials respect the distinction of merit."

"Is that so," muttered White. "If that's the case, then I nominate Lacus Clyne to represent us."

"What?" Princess Leia asked in shock at how the president of the AF just put forward a nominee that pretty much went against her suggestion. She wasn't the only one to voice such confusion.

"It's really quite simple," he said. "It would be easier to gauge the intent of this admiral if we were to present him with a situation that, if the princess is right, should put him on edge. Though I fear that if pushed, he will attack, such an outcome is one we were prepared to accept should the Empire be as the princess has told us."

His reasoning was sound to the others, and though they disliked the idea of a battle they knew their respective forces were prepared for one. This upcoming meeting could very well be the test that would determine which side the people of Earth could take arms with should they choose to involve themselves in the rest of the galaxy.

With the decision made a communications link-up was made with the _Tantive IV_ that could be used to relay communications with the Imperials. Making things easier as their systems would be compatible.

_**Flashback End**_

"_Be that as it may, Admiral,_" said Lacus sternly, "_I was the one chosen for my capabilities. By our standards, I am the best suited for this job, so the decision of my appointment is final._"

Davros snorted in annoyance at how he was addressed by a girl that couldn't even be half his age. "Very well then, 'Chairwoman' was it? I am here concerning the matter of the _Mangle_, a ship that is currently in distant orbit around this planet, with obvious signs of battle damage, and with what appears to be your ships guarding it. And I am here for the rebel vessel it was chasing. And before you answer, Chairwoman, I should warn you that because of the state of the _Mangle_ and the presence of your people in this system, I can make certain assumptions which allow me to order an invasion of this planet. And I will, if the outcome of our talk is unsatisfactory. In fact it should be noted that a considerable portion of the men under my command have become a tad twitchy over the condition of their compatriots, and without shields your vessels won't be able to defend against the power of mine."

"_That sounds like a threat, Admiral. You should know that it was the captain of your ship that fired on my people first._"

'_Of course he did._' "Take it however you will, Chairwoman. The fact remains that you have become highly involved in Imperial military affairs. As an Admiral of the Imperial Navy, I hereby demand that you order your people to stand down so that we may retrieve our personnel and that you hand over any criminals you are harboring."

The Chairwoman didn't say anything for a few moments, giving the admiral the impression that she was being fed lines.

"_The planet Earth is a sovereign society and does not recognize your Imperial authority here. We are not harboring anyone we recognize as criminals, but we will allow you to rescue your people stranded in this system under the condition that you leave immediately afterward and leave us in peace._"

Like a hunter that had caught his prey, Davros smiled and bared his teeth. "You just made a mistake Chairwoman. As soon as we were close enough we tagged the ID signal of a ship on your moon, hidden from our sight. Currently the name and vessel type is restricted from us, but that's only possible if the systems had been given illegal modifications. And that's something no loyal and honest child of the Empire would ever do. I warned of what would happen should I be dissatisfied, and I really hate being lied to." The killer smile was replaced with a smug smirk. "But I am feeling magnanimous. Surrender the rebels and control of your system to the Empire and I will ensure that when the new government is installed there will be minimal interference in your daily lives, aside from the dismantling of your military."

Lacus turned her head and nodded to someone off screen. Davros quirked an eyebrow, curious as to the significance of the gesture but taking a guess he turned to the tactical holo. As he suspected the Earth formation was moving, altering itself in what was undoubtedly preparation for battle. As he continued watching 15 of the wedged shaped ships disengaged from the fleet and began approach maneuvers. They were evenly spaced apart but with some distance between each ship, leading Davros to suspect that the Earth humans thought that this would give them some measure of protection. Davros smirked. '_How wrong they are._' "Weapons, target the lead ships. Minimum salvo, I want to see how easily it is to destroy them. And communications, you may transmit the order to attack to all other elements."

Davros then strode to the forward viewport to witness the coming carnage with his own eyes.

Along the length of the 4,800 meter hull heavy turbolaser turrets rose and tracked their assigned targets. Brilliant bursts of emerald energy surged forth from fifteen individual cannons, streaking across the void to their predetermined targets. The turbolaser bolts' journey lasted only a second before they struck true. The death of each ship came with a fantastic level of destruction as they were ripped apart from explosive shockwaves.

Davros smiled. '_Fifteen ships destroyed in 5 seconds. Will you surrender now or will I have to spend the next two minutes destroying your fleet._' Then Davros noticed something was off. The explosions of the ships had produced very little in the way of fireballs from combusted gas. The void of space may snuff such flames out quickly but there should have been more for that level of destruction. '_Is space turning green?_'

Through the transparisteel windows he could see as the black void took on a greenish hue, a hue that was expanding across his entire field of vision. '_What?_'

He turned back to the tactical holo to confirm what his eyes were seeing. From the wreckage of the destroyed ships a substance was spreading and connecting, forming some sort of gaseous barrier that covered hundreds of square kilometers between the _Fang_ and the Earth fleet. Then the quiet bridge erupted into a cacophony of sound as junior officers began reporting changes to the situation.

"Enemy ECMs have activated and knocked out our long range sensors, subspace radio, and hyperwave communications. We have lost contact with other fleet elements."

"Aural, radiation, and thermal sensors are still online, but the latter two have slight distortions, attempting to compensate and adjust."

"Visual cameras and electro photo receptors are online but the distance to the enemy is reducing effectiveness."

"Weapons report that their long range targeting systems have been blinded with the exception of light receptors, but enemy is out of range."

"Quiet!" ordered Davros. "Order all TIEs to engage. Boost power to sensors and communications, punch through that ECM by whatever means and restore contact with all fleet elements. Connect weapons to whatever sensors are still working and slice whatever programs you can for the computers to get targeting solutions from that information."

Further orders were cut off as another officer shouted, "Impact!"

They only produced minute tremors that could only be felt because the ship's engines were idling, and the aural sensors translated vibrations into sound that could be heard, but either then that there was not much change. Davros against looked out the window to see a steady stream of missiles and an almost imperceptible streaking yellow projectile that was coming through the gas in a staggered attack so that at least two hits per second.

"Shields?" he asked of the shield operator, not bother to fully form the question.

"Shields are holding sir. We've lost a few percentage points and it's still going down, however with this level of assault it will take over an hour before shield penetration."

"An hour they won't have. Weapons, fire a full spread. Don't bother with aiming, just shoot."

At his command a sheet of turbolasers and ion cannon fire lanced out, lighting up the sky like a meteor shower. The wave hit the edge of the gas, penetrated, and fizzled out within the first kilometer.

Shock rippled through the bridge at the sight of the heavy weapons, weapons that could lay waste to cities and fleets in a single salvo, weapons that could burn planets in a Base Delta Zero, halted by some gas. And it was then that Davros figured it out. "It's an anti-laser aerosol field."

He had heard of anti-laser aerosols before, but to his knowledge they had only been used twice in recent history, both times during the Clone Wars. '_It will stop my cannons and the TIEs' weapons will be useless._' "Helm, move us forward to the far-side of the gas cloud. Weapons, as soon as we can get locks fire missiles and torpedoes. Recall what TIEs we can contact to defensive formation around the ship until we hit the cloud. They are to fly around it, not through it."

"Sir! Incoming fighters!"

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**Earth Fleet**

**Terminal Command Ship **_**Eternal**_

**Several seconds after Anti-Beam Gas cloud forms**

Andrew saw the cloud form just as Davros did and began relaying orders. "Switch communications to N-Jammer countermeasures and activate all N-Jammers. Bombardment forces prepare all missiles and linear weapons to fire on my mark. Relay satellites are providing additional targeting information but even without it I expect none of you to miss such a big target! Escort teams get into position with the N strike squad. All units must avoid the battlecruiser's ventral side until we receive the signal. All unit weapons ready! Mark!"

From the dozens of ships under Terminal's command missiles launched from their tubes as railguns accelerated heavy solid projectiles. At the same time the assault force mobile suits detached from the defenders and accelerated forward, with a formation of 12 Windams and 33 Moebius from the AF forces. Following behind them would be the units that would be in the most danger for their lack of mobility, 12 Terminal controlled Nelsons, 3 Laurasias, a Nazca, the four Izumo-class battleships, the _Archangel_, and the _Seraph_, a newly built Atlantic Federation Archangel-class assault ship.

"Godspeed," he whispered, knowing that even with laminated armor it wouldn't take more than a few hits from the battlecruisers heavy guns to take them out.

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**Earth Fleet**

**AFSF Command Ship **_**Washington**_

**Several seconds after Anti-Beam Gas cloud forms**

Admiral Gene Wakkein also observed the gas disperse and began issuing orders. "The drone ships have been destroyed and the Nebula Trap has been successfully sprung, all ships begin missile barrage. Keep the corridor clear for the strike force. All Drakes are to keep their anti-beam torpedoes ready; control will give you the firing schedule. The electrostatic charge will keep for a few minutes but it will disperse faster if the Imperials figure out they can burn through it….

"Nuclear Strike Force, keep your missiles aimed at the ships topside armor. We don't want to hit the shadows."

From the formation of the Atlantic Federation Space Forces a detachment of 12 Windams and 33 Moebius units moved forward, quickly surrounded by a protective escort of mobile suits and mobile armors. The Windams and Moebius units of the N strike force were equipped with their respective nuclear missile launchers, and were armed with the last of the AF's nuclear stockpile.

In this day and age, no Earth made weapon could match the sheer destructive power each of the 57 missiles possessed. Only two other weapons came close, and one was on Earth. Of the other, the positron blaster cannon, there were thirteen present for this battle. Four of the cannons were onboard the legendary _Archangel_ and its sister ship as the two vessels got into position to trail behind the nuclear strike force.

Another eight belonged to the four _Izumo_ battleships.

And the last of the cannons, aboard the _Diana_, was currently in the most precarious position since it was behind the battlecruiser and not protected by the nebula trap. Fortunately it seemed that the admiral of the Imperials had more or less forgotten them, or else was preparing a deadly trap.

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**Flanking **_**Diana**_** Group**

It wasn't hard to tell when the battle began, not when a massive gas cloud suddenly appears and the Empire's TIEs begin converging on your position.

But Shinn was ready for them. As the first flight of TIEs vectored in on the mobile suits he activated the Wings of Light, more than tripling his acceleration. Thanks to the unanticipated acceleration the Destiny swooped upon an inspecting pair of TIEs. The starfighters jerked in response to the pilots' jerks of surprise but they didn't have the skill or time to properly get out of the way as the mobile suit was upon them, slicing through the one on the right with the Arondight before quickly spinning around and shooting the left in the tail with the beam rifle.

Lacking the Destiny's raw speed, Lunamaria chose to go after the TIEs that scattered from his attack, using her training to shoot along her target's predicted path. Easier said than done.

Though its overall maneuverability paled in comparison to a mobile suit's, it wasn't something to sneer at and its speed was daunting. The Impulse chased after the fighter but its speed let it quickly pull ahead out of the beam rifle's effective range. Once out of range it dove quickly, with the Impulse following at an angle in an attempt to make up ground. The TIE pulled to port and looped, coming about to face the Impulse once more and spitting laser bolts.

The maneuver may have caught a starfighter but Lunamaria had to simply adjust the left arm to block the incoming lasers as she spun on her midline axis. The TIE tried breaking off, presenting a nice target as a solar panel turned to face the Impulse. As the TIE jinked around a beam clipped the upper portion of the solar panel and had enough energy to continue and melt part of the cockpit. The pilot survived but due to surprised he paused a few seconds too long as second and third follow up shots completely eliminated the TIE from existence.

As Lunamaria moved to return to the main group she could make out a trio of TIEs that were spiraling around one another, spitting laser bolts in a deadly dance that overwhelmed the defenses of a Gunner ZAKU and Aile Windam. Limbs went flying as they were blown off before lasers found the torso cockpits and pieces of armor joined the limbs.

The distance was too great for the Impulse to get there in time to make a difference, but there were others that could.

A GOUF and Slash ZAKU charged up from below at the TIEs from port and starboard, their high rate of fire scaring the TIEs up into the path of a Blaze ZAKU's missile barrage and a pair of Dagger Ls' with beam rifles firing at maximum speed. The first of the TIEs was blown apart by missiles, the second was scored by a beam, and the third was struck on a pylon but the engines must have been damaged as it spun out of control.

Nearby six TIEs were being led around by the Destiny with Shinn using the afterimages caused by the Wings of Light to confuse the pilots.

A Nelson-class destroyer tried to take advantage by moving closer and attacking with its multiple weapons. The ship did not go unnoticed as three TIEs broke off from the group and swooped on the Nelson.

As they buzzed by the ship they blew several small holes in the hull and destroyed two weapon turrets, including one machine gun and one beam cannon, but a skilled gunner in another machine gun turret destroyed one of the three TIEs. On the second pass another beam cannon and a launch catapult were destroyed as a second TIE was clipped. It flew away with sparks erupting from the cockpit near the engines.

The final TIE arced up and around, intent at getting the bridge tower with the next pass had the Luminaria not shown up and shot the distracted fighter.

With the Destiny, Shinn had dropped his beam boomerangs into the path of the trailing TIEs. Spinning fast enough to be considered beam buzz saws the magenta blades sliced through a TIE that had been looping to keep up with the Destiny's latest maneuver and had failed to see and react. It exploded spectacularly, shocking its wingmen into banking left and right respectively before they closed formation to continue pursuit.

Smirking Shinn then killed the Gundam's acceleration while spinning 180 degrees and bringing up the beam shields to protect its body. The TIE pilots had not expected the maneuver and the leader had no time to alter his course before his TIE smashed into the beam shields. Acting on a principle similar to beam sabers the beam shield destroyed a good portion of the fighter before its engine exploded.

Not having its thrusters active the Destiny was pushed a good distance back thanks to the TIE's momentum but between its shields and phase shift armor the mobile suit escaped relatively unscathed. The explosion had caused it to tumble through space but Shinn quickly brought it back under control to confront the remaining TIE that had moved enough to escape its companion's fate. The TIE was circling at a good two kilometers away, its pilot clearly nervous at taking on the Destiny without backup. Its pilot decided that discretion was the better part of valor and swung away, clearly hoping to find another flight element to join and leave the Destiny to someone else.

With the immediate threat gone Shinn paused and scanned the area for enemies. There was nothing in the immediate vicinity when his console beeped with an incoming message.

"_Shinn,_" said Luminaria as the Impulse slid beside the Destiny. "_We're being called to escort the Diana_."

"_Yeah,_" responded Shinn. "_They are making their run and need us to help keep the enemy fighters off._"

()()()()()()()()()()

Kira Yamato and Athrun Zala flew as a vanguard for the nuclear strike force in the Strike Freedom and the Infinite Justice. Though neither had done any fighting since the end of the last war, they were still amongst the best, and their METEOR equipped Gundams kept just ahead of the slower, less powerful mobile suits and the assault carriers.

Supported by the DOM Trooper pilots Hilda Harken, Mars Simeon, and Herbert Von Reinhardt, along with a squad of Murasames, the two Gundams were the first to break through the edge of the nebula trap, and almost immediately unloading a firestorm of their METEOR's 154 Erinaceus anti-ship missile launchers and eleven high energy beam cannons against the hastily targeted TIE formation guarding the battlecruiser.

Some missiles struck their targets, others missed, and many ended up striking the Praetor II's shields. But it had the desired effect of scattering the TIEs as various Moebius, Dagger, Windam, Euclid, GINN, GuAIZ, ZAKU, and GOUF models appeared and began firing at targets of opportunity. Between the missiles and sudden mobile suit attack a good twenty TIEs perished in the opening assault, but as their numbers originally exceeded a hundred the gaps in the formation was quickly filled as the TIEs went on the offensive.

The _Venomous Fang_ also joined the fray, unleashing wave after wave of missiles and laser bolts that ranged from heavy cannons to pin-point defenses.

It was in this melee, begun only five second before, that the nuclear strike force emerged. With the battlecruiser approaching the nebula trap they didn't waste what few kilometers they had and launched their nuclear missiles. With the missiles away they detached the launchers to join the fray.

Aside from their high yield nuclear warhead, a yield that Antilles could have told them was comparable to heavy assault proton torpedoes, the missiles were packed with ECM and ECCM equipment and high thrust rockets that would put all but the swiftest of mobile suits to shame. These combined with the general confusion and havoc already being sown by the swarms of battling mobile suits and starfighters and the sensor dampening effects of N-Jammers, allowing all but six missiles to reach their target without being shot down.

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**Praetor II Battlecruiser **_**Venomous Fang**_

Had he still been standing instead of having taken his command chair, Davros might have been thrown off his feet by the latest and far more massive round of vibrations that had done just that to several unprepared bridge officers. "What in the name of all that is Imperial was that?"

"Multiple high-yield detonations, upwards of forty distinct hits. Radiation analysis suggests that element 92 was the energy source."

Davros sneered in contempt. He would concede that when used properly element 92 was useful and in its own right powerful, but it was primitive, inefficient, and dirty compared to many of the more modern nuclear energy sources available in the galaxy.

"Shields?"

"Holding at 33 percent sir."

"Redirect energy to reinforce forward shields."

"Enemy ships approaching."

Davros glanced to the tactical holo and watched as three ships approached his battle cruiser. Two were just emerging from the gas cloud ahead and a third was approaching from behind. The ships were small compared to the _Fang_, barely over 400 meters in length and unless they were carrying more missiles he dismissed their ability to inflict damage to his ship. Still there had been too many surprises for his liking.

"Guns, target the incoming ships."

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**N Strike Force Escort Ships**

Before they had even emerged from the nebula trap all ships were firing their various projectile weapons. CWIS and machine guns targeted flights of TIEs as linear cannons and missiles targeted the battlecruiser. But most importantly the Lohengrin positron cannons of the Izumo and Archangel classes were deployed and building up positrons.

Much like the mobile suits before them they had wasted no time after emerging, firing beam cannons and positron cannons as soon as the final charge up sequence was complete, hoping that no mobile suit pilot strayed into their path.

Ships fired only one volley before turning to retreat back into the cloud, but not before the _Fang_ struck at them. The gunners having had little to do because of the gas cloud; they were eager for blood and fired as rapidly as their capacitors would allow creating a rain of fire.

Although the Earth ships had been prepared for the assault and had already fired anti-beam depth charges, they quickly dissipating depth charges could not keep up. The slower Nelsons and Laurasia were virtually ripped apart as the plasma energy of the turbolasers superheated and melted the armor. Though faster the Nazca had lost its starboard wing and bow.

A heavy ion bolt struck the _Archangel_. Azure arcs of energy played over the ship as electrical systems were overloaded and shut down, some even fusing into useless slag and causing a minor explosion in the engines. The ship was practically dead in the water as one of the standard turbolaser bolts struck and blasted a hole in the left "leg" between mobile suit hangar and positron cannon. A second shot passed within feet of the engines, threatening to melt nacelles.

The _Seraph_ was struck by a pair of heavy turbolaser bolt that vaporized one of its right wing despite laminated armor.

The _Izumo_ suffered similar levels of damage, one having lost its hangar, another losing the bow, the third losing its weapon fins, and the last being destroyed completely.

More damage might have been sustained had the remaining ships had not flown/drifted to a safer distance into the cloud.

But as the Earth ships were damaged/destroyed, their own attacks had struck.

Having been weakened by long range missile bombardment, followed by 50+ nuclear missiles that could each wipe a small city from the face of the Earth, the battlecruiser's shields were not able withstand a confrontation with their naturally opposing compositional particle. Having delayed their attacks by nanoseconds allowed the first seven positron blasts, from the _Seraph_, _Diana_, and two _Izumo_ respectively, to bring down the shields to allow the remaining six positron attacks to strike the armor, drawing first blood as durasteel armor was annihilated, leaving gouges in the outer armor the penetrated the first several deck levels and destroying numerous weapon emplacements. The beam cannons similarly scored gouges in the armor, though not quite enough to penetrate it, and destroyed the less well protected weapon banks.

The ships weren't the only one to strike while the shield was down. During the entire exchange the long range bombardment had not let up, allowing anti-ship missiles to impact the armor which held up admirably, but could withstand without taking damage.

This came in concurrence with an assault from the mobile weapons, the Kira and Athrun using their second METEOR volley as thirty mobile armors switched from TIEs to the ship. Moebius units fired their linear rifles and missiles as the Euclids used beam cannons. The two Gundam pilots then activated the METEOR's massive beam sabers and rammed the four energy blades into the hull armor and began carving out what they could before their blades were cut off by a renewed shield.

The units were then forced away by an intense Imperial counter attack from TIEs and ship cannons, an attack so fierce that they abandoned the METEOR units in favor of decreasing their size to more easily avoid the onslaught. The mobile armors were not as fortunate as one squadron of TIEs caught them from behind, destroying a group of three Euclids and eight Moebius. The squadron was broken apart by the DOM Troopers, the pilots using their famed Jet Stream attack to scatter and destroy the TIEs as a group of twenty Moebius swooped in from behind to attack the remains of the squadron.

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**Praetor II Battlecruiser **_**Venomous Fang**_

"Status!" shouted Davros over the din on the bridge, making his voice heard over the various alarms and the shouts of crewmen and officers.

"Emergency power rerouting has brought forward shields back up," said his aide, the man doing his best to make sure he had all up to date information for the admiral. "Multiple weapon banks have been destroyed, reducing combat capabilities by 38 percent. Multiple hull breaches have been reported and emergency magcon fields are activating throughout the ship. Fighter control reports that the ferocity of our enemies has already destroyed half of our TIEs. Our estimates of the enemies' strength indicate that we have in turn destroyed a fifth of their 200 fighters."

"What of the other battle groups? Has there been any word?"

"No sir, their jamming is too good. Unless they investigate our lack of communication we are on our own." The aide gulped as his next words left his mouth. "Sir, our position is unfavorable, and we can't handle another attack like the previous; I suggest that we withdraw to get reinforcements."

The admiral glowered at the aide. Any other day he would have given the lieutenant kitchen duty for suggesting that his battlecruiser couldn't handle any situation, but today his fears had some real basis. However, if his understanding of tactics was spot on, all was far from lost…

"Look," said Davros as he gestured to the viewports, "the battle is turning. We have already weathered the worst our enemy can throw at us. Surely if they could produce a second assault of that magnitude they would have taken advantage of our momentary weakness. Now, as long as our shields remain up we can still emerge victorious." Davros glanced at a holograph that represented the ship's condition and noticed ventral shields were currently the strongest. "Reduce ventral shields to minimal strength and reroute the energy to all remaining shields."

"Sir, is that wise?"

Davros gave the aide a patronizing look. "The enemy has yet to attack us from below and they have no units down there. Either they cannot, or are too stupid to think of it. So that shield energy is of better use elsewhere. Now obey my commands!"

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**AFSF Special Operations Ship **_**Redemption**_

The last ship of the Girty Lue-class had been renamed _Redemption_ after the Atlantic Federation discovered and chose to keep it as opposed to dismantling it. It was so named as a symbol of the Atlantic Federation's desire to rid their government and military of the taint left behind by LOGOS and units such as Phantom Pain.

After the first incursion by the _Tantive IV_ and the _Mangle_ President White ordered the _Redemption_ put on high alert and had his military commanders begin drawing up plans for how to use it against future extraterrestrial hostiles.

When it had become known that a second incursion was anticipated the plans were put into motion and when Captain Antilles had shared the data about the Praetor II battlecruiser the AF had spent every minute available preparing. As such from the beginning the _Redemption_ had, under a cloak of mirage colloid, used its gas propulsion system to stealthy approach the battlecruiser's ventral surface as part of a trap.

The ship's target was the massive ventral hangar bay entrance. At 300 meters long and 150 wide it was just on the small side for the_ Redemption_ to completely enter, but there would be enough room to wedge up it and deploy the thousand troops that had been packed into every single available space aboard the ship.

Currently the armored hangar bay doors were closed, a suitable precaution, and as long as the shield was in place the _Redemption_ simply would not be able to blast through it. This was why the ventral shields had to be brought down before the battlecruiser passed the stealth cruiser.

Fortunately the efforts of the AF and Terminal fleets had ensured just that, and as soon as the shield weakened to acceptable levels the _Redemption_ and its escorts of 4 N Daggers surged forward, firing all weapons at a frantic pace as they dropped their cloak. While the six Gottfried turrets of the _Redemption_ focused on the area of the hangar doors, its 38 vertical missile launchers were firing anywhere and everywhere that had been deemed critical, including marked locations of weapon turrets and shield generators.

The shield was already paper thin and dropped almost immediately under the assault. Multiple bursts of Gottfried derived high energy beams struck the armored doors, melting and mangling them into ribbons. An N Dagger with seven 3-barrel missile launchers mounted on its hardpoints led the way, using missiles and beams to clear the path of debris before entering the hangar proper and eliminated what threats it could detect.

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**Praetor II Battlecruiser **_**Venomous Fang**_

New alarms sounded as fresh reports appeared on data screens. Davros's aide immediately brought up the information at his station. "Admiral! Enemy attack from below!"

Davros looked to the tactical screen in disbelief. It has happened so suddenly, almost as soon as he had shield energy redirected. '_That's impossible!_' he mentally screamed. '_They're attacking too quickly! They would have to have been right beneath…_' It then dawned on the admiral. '_They have cloaking technology!_' It hadn't even occurred to the admiral that his enemies would have such technology since even in the vast military of the Empire such technology was rare to the point of being almost mythic.

With the loss of rare stygium crystals, the production of cloaking devices had dwindled to virtually nothing a century before the Empire's rise. Since its founding research into alternative methods of generating a cloaking field had been a top priority for Imperial military research, but had yet to have any real positive results.

With that in mind Davros hadn't even considered the possibility that his enemy would have what the Empire couldn't produce after two decades of research. But now that he knows… '_They could have reinforcements hidden anywhere, waiting to attack at the right moment._' "Restore ventral shields! All weapons fire! I don't care if you are shooting empty space just fire! The enemy could be anywhere!"

"Sir," the aide tried to get his commander's attention. "Numerous shield projectors and weapon turrets were destroyed around the hangar and enemy units are breaching… including a warship."

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**AFSF Special Operations Ship **_**Redemption**_

Technicians ran from the mobile suit as it landed and began its sweep, what few armed guards there were fired with blaster pistols that had little effect against the mobile suit's armor. The N Dagger pilot gunned down the guards with CWIS fire before firing a beam into a Lambda shuttle that one tech had scrambled into and was trying to bring online. With the shields down the beam struck the stationary target dead center, destroying it. Most of the other technicians were scrambling for the entryways, thankful for the emergency magcon field array setup through the hangar that separated its atmosphere from space's vacuum.

The _Redemption_ was right behind, bursting through the opening like a whale breaching water. But where a whale would fall back into the ocean the _Redemption_ deployed its rocket anchors, anchoring itself to the hangar bay ceiling and walls, hanging there because the area above the hangar doors was a zero gravity zone.

Hatches opened along the side and the first four dozen soldiers, wearing space combat suits deployed using magnetic grapples to get from the ship to the areas under the effect of gravity, their mission to secure the hangar as engineers built sturdier bridges from the _Redemption_ to the hangar.

Among the first across these bridges was a certain white and blue astromech droid that had some very sophisticated code slicing programs, and to much protestations (from the droid and those that had to endure its presence) a golden protocol droid that could translate what the astromech said. The pair of droids had been loaned to the _Redemption_ along with a dozen of the _Tantive IV's_ security detail to aid in the mission to capture, or failing that internally destroy, the _Venomous Fang_.

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**Author's notes:**

I decided that this was a good place to stop with the chapter. If I kept going with the battle it would reach an unwieldy size. And I still find battles of such massive scale to be difficult to write in any sort of elegant manner.

The next chapter(s) will have scenes from the other battle locations and a deeper focus on the infiltration team.


End file.
